Black Core
by Damyan Aerth
Summary: 7 years after SD3 and the world is at peace. Our heroes are granted visions from the Goddess and set out on an adventure that will test their physical and mental strength to the limit. Chapter 25: Hawk wakes up in an unfamiliar place.
1. Intro

Black Core

Intro

Hello everybody, this is my first fanfic and I'm hoping that you all enjoy it. I just need to explain a few things before I get started and credit a few people.  
In this fanfic, there have been a few alterations to the plot of SD3, so don't worry if you're slightly confused by it, everything should be explained in a few chapters but if you feel you don't understand please say so in the reviews, if enough come in, I'll probably write a short chapter just to explain what happened in my version of the game. And also, despite the characters class changing, I'm saying that they look the same, since I personally prefer their original colours, therefore, Angela, despite being one of her final classes will still have purple hair and a red dress. And I think that's it with the explanation. Now the credits:

I dedicate this fanfic to all my friends who keep me happy through the monotony of everyday life.

I'd also like to thank Miss Rosa Aquafire. Unknowingly she inspired me to write this fanfic with her one "The Call". If you enjoyed my fanfic, read that one, in fact, if you didn't like my fafic read that one, in fact if you hated my fanfic more than anything that has ever existed on God's green earth read that one, I guarantee, you'll like it.

_I'm adding this four years after I started this little piece of work. A lot of the earlier chapters I've written are going to be going under revision so that their formatting matches that of my later pieces. I apologise in advance to most readers who will look at the first few chapters and see the work of a hyperactive 16 year old kid who thinks he can write. Black Core in addition to being a story also appears to be a record of my evolution as a writer. The first few chapters might throw you off but I ask you to persevere past that and hopefully you'll see the improvement as I learn how to write better and mature as a person. In any case, I'd like to take this moment to thank Sinnatious for her work "Another Witchmaker" which really made me try to improve this story as actively as I could. Her work is a shining example to all fanfiction writers of exactly how you're meant to do this stuff._

_In any case, from immature to mature, from bad writing to good, I hope you enjoy this story._


	2. The Howl of a Wolf

The Howl of a Wolf

Disclaimer: All characters in this who are in Seiken Densetsu 3 are Square's not my own, I do not and will not own them in any way, ever. The rest are owned by me, and a bunch of flying zombie monkeys.

There stood the Dark Lich, the last of the 3 standing. Torrents of blood oozed from the wounds all over his body as he tried to fend of the attacks of the 6 heroes. It was easy to see that he was using everything he had just to prevent his demise. Kevin threw another punch and knew he was ready. The Lich would meet his demise at the hands of the wolf. Jumping into the air Kevin launched himself into his strongest move, the Seiyuu Death Fist, and the mage came crashing to the ground next to the corpses of his comrades, the Dragon Emperor and the Arch Demon. Kevin turned away, it was finally over.

A second later Kevin sensed movement from among the corpses. Turning, and putting up his hands in a defence Kevin saw the lich casting one last spell in desperation. From his hands came a magical blast that Kevin had never seen in his life. Raising his hands in defence it was only then that he realised the blast wasn't targeted at him, the legendary hero of mana, chosen by the fairy to save the world, but at Carlie, the little necromancer. Screaming Kevin darted forward to try and push her out the way but, his best efforts in vain. Before his eyes he saw her, crying for her grandfather, for Heath, for him, to come save her, and she was gone, engulfed by the ultimate evil of the, now expired, lich. Kevin ran to the spot where she had been tears streaming down his face desperately looking for her, praying to a dead goddess for her to still be alive.

"Carlie!" he shrieked, turning his head and only seeing the others, unconscious or barely able to stand. "Carlie!" slowly the thought crept into his head, "No,impossible," he whispered, "Carlie no can be gone." Looking to the dark heavens, he howled, "CARLIE!"

Kevin woke up. He could feel the sweat dripping over his body. 7 years on, and the memory still haunted him. Why of all people had it been her, why! Why not him! Kevin knew the answer to his question. She had been the last of the blood of the priest of light. The lich killed her to stop the line. Kevin slowly got out of bed and walked to the balcony of his room in the moonlit palace.

It was still day time, or at least what the beastmen called "day"; Even with the mana stone gone the moonlit forest was still eternally in darkness, so the beastmen had taken to sleeping during the "day" which they losely deemed as the time the majority of them felt tired. Looking out onto his kingdom he mourned her. She had meant so much to him; she had been like a little sister, or a daughter to him. They had understood each other. Both of them had been half human, both of them weren't allowed to do what they wanted; both of them weren't able to speak English properly. And of all people she had had to die, they had won, yes, but the victory hadn't been worth the price. It felt like he had lost everything, for absolutely nothing. Slowly Kevin returned to his bed. His sleep may have been filled with nightmares as of late, but that didn't mean he didn't need it. Laying down he closed his eyes and tried to forget.

He woke up early that night and getting dressed quickly he went to the throne room. Sitting down he began the night's work. It was mostly admin for the expansion of the beast kingdom, and he was utterly bored by it, but he knew that being the beast king would never be easy. Having to satisfy one general at the expense of another, a part of Kevin wished for the excitement of nights gone by. But only a small part, he had lost too much because of it to want it back.

He did wish to see his friends again. He hadn't seen any of them for years. Ever since Deathjester had taken advantage of his late father the majority of beastmen demanded no contact with the outside world. They saw outsiders as viruses there only to spread an infection and destroy the moonlit kingdom from within. He missed all of them, Hawk and his relaxed take on life, Duran with his great pride, Lise and her quiet dignity, Angela with her cheerful, bouncy nature, Carlie with her... Kevin blotted the thought out of his head.

Halfway through the night Kevin went to see Lugar; the boy was 8 now and already was showing that he was the same person who had almost beaten Kevin all those years ago, growing ever stronger under the tutelage of Kevin's best generals. Entering the room he saw Lugar practicing against a bigger older wolf, Jorin. The grizzled veteran of the beast kingdom army was Kevin's best and most trusted general. Jorin had become like a brother to him, helping him whenever he was down, advising him on all matters. He could share anything with him without fear of discovery. As he entered room Lugar turned to greet him and abruptly received a punch from Jorin. Kevin chuckled, harsh, but he should have let his guard down.

"Say hello to King Kevin Lugar," commanded Jorin

"Jorin there is no need for you to address me like that." The beast king replied, there really was no need for any formalities among them.

"I know your majesty but I have to teach the boy some respect!" Kevin sighed and accepted defeat, the young wolf's training was paramount.

"Hello King Kevin!" said the wolf enthusiastically as he got up from the floor, "I hope you come train me today, it so fun!"

Kevin looked at the child; yes this definitely was Lugar, delighting in the thrill of the fight, wanting to be the strongest beastman in the kingdom, "Me too my young wolf, but I fear you may need some more common tongue lessons, you're as bad as I was at that age!"

"I try speak like you Kevin!" that sentence earned him a slap round the head from Jorin.

"Respect young one, he is King Kevin to you." Kevin felt bad for Lugar, it was quite harsh for a child to have to address someone like his father by a formal title, though when he thought about it, Angela had had to do that and she had turned out fine eventually.  
It was only then that Kevin noticed the cold. "Jorin please put the fire on, I feel a little cold."

As Jorin started the fire Kevin stared into it, it was almost, entrancing; he heard the distant words of Lugar asking him to go outside but that another wolf hearing those words. Suddenly images flashed before Kevin's eyes, he saw a town burning. The inhabitants were almost, familiar. Amidst the burning he could see, almost touch, a dark presence corrupting and destroying everything around it. But he could not see the source, it was buried deep inside. As if hiding, but not out of fear. It was waiting for the opportune moment for an attack.

"Goddess save me," uttered Kevin. Suddenly Kevin re-entered a shaking real world and found himself in front of a screaming Lugar and an extremely worried Jorin. Jorin was the one shaking him vigorously, shouting, trying to make him wake up. Kevin pushed Jorin's hands off him, and got up from the chair he found he had fallen into.

"Guys don't worry I'm fine!" He was fine physically, but mentally, he was scared, this had not been the first time he had seen the vision.

"Are you sure King Kevin, you were in that... trance for 5 minutes," The old beastman was clearly worried, despite sounding calm; Kevin could smell it and see it in his eyes.

Lugar gripped onto Kevin's leg like an assassin bug on a wolf's arm, "Never do that Kevin... uuhhh" the cub hesitated, "King Kevin! I worried a lot!" The cub was so worried he was actually near tears.

Patting Lugar on the head Kevin smiled happily to prove that he was indeed fine, "I'm absolutely fine, the only thing that happened was that I saw... a vision."

"A hallucination?" Evidently Jorin was still not convinced that he was in a good state of health.

"No, not a hallucination," Kevin verified, "This was different, it was like," he hesitated, trying to find an apt description, "It was like when the faerie was in my head, and I closed my eyes, and she showed me things far away. And those things, seemed real, like you could touch them."

Lugar was definitely intrigued by this vision, "What you see!" That earned him another slap from Jorin.

"Respect cub!"

Rubbing his head Lugar repeated his sentence, "What you see your majesty?"

Kevin looked around warily, just to make sure there were no servants or maids listening in for a bit of gossip, "Please, keep this a secret."

"On my life," replied Jorin formally

"If you can't trust me to keep a secret who can you trust... Your majesty" responded the wolf cub, saving the sentence just in time to avoid yet another slap.

"Good," said Kevin, still wary of his surroundings, and he explained his vision.

"King Kevin," the old wolf was obviously in deep thought, "you mentioned earlier that the vision was like the one the faerie showed you. As you know, the faerie is now the Goddess. It could be possible that this was indeed a vision sent by the Goddess to warn you of an event yet to come."  
Kevin stared at the old wolf. Unbelievable, in a few seconds he had figured out what had taken Kevin months of these visions to understand. Kevin needed to find out what they meant and take action.

"Your majesty, I think it would be wise to go to Wendel to see the priest of light."  
Kevin had already considered that option, he felt a twinge of pain in his heart, it had been his fault that the line had ended. "But the line of the priest of light was wiped out; Wendel is merely there because of the value of its minerals."

The old wolf smiled, "That isn't necessarily true, we haven't received news from the outside in a very long time Kevin but one of my sources in Mintos has informed me that there is a new priest, or should I say, priestess of light."

Kevin could feel his mouth drop open, it was impossible, they were all dead, "How?" he just managed to utter.  
Well you see, Carlie's father Leroy, did love her mother Shayla very much, but before they met, he had been quite the womaniser. Apparently, he got a girl pregnant, and only 20 years later did she realise that her daughter was actually, the other granddaughter of the priest of light. They tested her, and now she is the priestess of light."

"Unbelievable... and her name?"

"Sakura"

"Jorin start making preparations, I'm paying a visit to the priestess of light, make sure Lugar is well looked after, and until I return, you are in charge."

"Yes my Lord, everything will be as you command."

"And Lugar, make sure Jorin does everything correctly." Kevin said smiling.

Lugar smiled so much that Kevin was surprised his mouth didn't touch his ears "Yes your majesty, as you command!"

"Oh and Jorin get my bodyguard and some supplies ready."

"Why on earth would you want that my Lord?" asked Jorin incredulously.

"We'll be going through the forest, we need the training, we all must be at our strongest to repel this evil, with only enough mana to cast a few heal lights we can't afford to be our of practice."

"I understand my Lord," conceded the wolf reluctantly, "But be careful, the forest is still full of monsters."  
Jorin was right, even after the defeat of the three evils, the monsters refused to die, no matter how many were killed by beastmen, the things bred like rabites. "I will Jorin, I have a Kingdom to rule."

Kevin left 2 days later after announcing his "pilgrimage" to the entire beast kingdom. He had said that it was merely a pilgrimage to ask the Goddess for her blessings but most of the beast kingdom believed otherwise. It had amazed Kevin at how quickly different rumours had spread. "King Kevin is dying and he's going to Wendel for healing."

"No, that's not it, King Kevin is going to Wendel to scout out weaknesses for another invasion!"

"Well I heard that King Kevin had a vision and is going to Wendel to have it checked out."

Sitting in the Mintos bar with a hood over his head, Kevin shuddered slightly, that rumour was very close to the truth. Hopefully with the sheer quantity of rumours around that one would be drowned out. Finishing his drink, he walked out and to the newly built port at Mintos. He had sent the bodyguards back when he had arrived, the less people that knew who he was, the less people to assassinate him. His bodyguards thought it was paranoia, but he couldn't be too careful, this evil could be anywhere. Admittedly he had told the entire beast kingdom about the trip, but he doubted news of it would get out for weeks, and by then he would be back. He found a cargo ship heading to Jad and walked to the captain.

"I'd like a one way trip to Jad please," said Kevin, thrusting more than enough money into the captain's palm.

"Sir this is too..." the captain abruptly stopped speaking when he saw Kevin's face, "Aren't you?"

"Yes, and I'll pay you 4 times this if nobody knows," said Kevin cutting the captain off.

"Of course, master... Aindar," said the captain wryly.

An hour later and Kevin was on his way to the priestess of light. Clenching his fists he forced down memory of her and thought about what he was to say at the meeting. But a small part of him begged him to become Kevin, hero of the sword, saviour of mana, once again, but only a small part. As the sun rose, Kevin drifted into a long nightmare filled sleep.

Random Rants: WOOOOO!! The first chapter of my first ever fanfiction has been completed!! Only, well, a lot more to go. Anyway PLEASE REVIEW this fanfic I want to know whether I should carry on or not, all constructive comments are welcome. But NO DEATH THREATS JUST BECAUSE CARLIE'S DEAD!! It was a necessary plot.. thingamabob... yeah... that's it. If you liked this hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter, Lise's, what's she up to after all these years I wonder?


	3. The Lance of an Amazon

The Lance of an Amazon

There Lise stood, atop Flammie, the beautiful winged guardian of Rolante. The flying beast was making sure she flew steadily enough for her friends to stand on. Weapon drawn, Lise knew she was the last one; all her companions had been knocked out by the terrible monster that stood before. Dangaard, master of the air, God beast of the wind, and the evil being she had dreaded all her life. She had to defeat him, for the sake of mana, the world, and more importantly for her friends. Swinging her lance above her heads, she rained slashes and stabs all over the bodies of the beast. But no matter how many times she stabbed him, the winged monster refused to fall, and reciprocated with vicious attacks of his own.

For such a huge thing the God beast was extremely fast, and Lise decided to focus on damage limitation rather than actually attempting to dodge the vicious claws of the beast. Another of his terrible attacks hit home and Lise was forced to her knees, looking through her pack, to her horror, Lise found that all the healing items they had kept had been used, there was nothing left. Eyes widening, and clutching the gash in her side, she turned to face Dangaard for what she felt, no, knew would be her last fight.

Suddenly, Lise found herself pinned to Flammie, yet the God beast was not on her. Lise smiled sadly, "So, even the winds have turned against me now." Closing her eyes she accepted her fate, yet, that final, piercing blow never came. Opening her eye, she saw Dangaard, flying in front of her, taunting her. A booming voice echoed through her brain, "Dear Lady Amazon," that voice, it could only belong, to it, Dangaard's eyes told her that. "I will spare your pointless life on one condition," Dangaard, seemed to... smile at her, menacingly, Lise could see that he was delighting in this. "If you give up the lance, give up the way of the Amazon." Lise simply stared at him, completely speechless.

Being an Amazon meant absolutely everything to her. For all of her childhood, she had trained, trained for that moment, when she would be accepted as an Amazon, and join her sisters as part of the army of Rolante. And when she finally got to join, it had been the happiest moment of her life. It was because of her Amazon training that she had been able to try to save the world. Nothing mattered more to her than that, nothing. Lise looked up into Dangaard's twisted eyes, and smiled defiantly, "I am an Amazon, to the end, take my life, it means nothing to me." The fact that Dangaard showed no sign of caring only took a little from her victory. Raising its claw Dangaard began the final slash. Lise closed her eyes.

And found herself awake in her quarters in Rolante. Despite being a dream, no a nightmare, it had seemed so real and Lise felt a sense of pride at her decision. Nothing mattered more to her than the lance and her sisters. Lise did feel slightly worried though. Nightmares like these were disturbing her sleep more and more regularly, the winds told her that something was coming. She just did not know what, or what to do about it. She hated that feeling of helplessness. She was an Amazon for Goddess' sake, of all people she should be one of the few who knew what to do. She had spent all her life training so she knew what to do in any situation. Closing her eyes Lise tried to forget about it and get some much needed rest, besides today was going to be a very big day, with the wedding and all. Imagining herself in that beautiful dress, Lise slowly drifted to a blissful, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Lise woke up to Merci shaking her, "Lise! Get up you lazy girl! It's the big day! Remembering exactly what the big day was, Lise got up and got changed into her traditional Amazon garb quickly and ran down to the dining quarters for a quick breakfast. The whole room was abuzz with talk of the wedding. Every Amazon in Rolante had been invited, but that was expected really.

"Those two make such a good couple!"

"Oh I know! They're just so right together."

Lise smiled, it was so true. Quickly putting her plate away she walked quickly, breaking into a run back to her chamber. The wedding was just a few hours away and she hadn't even gotten dressed yet. She opened her cupboard, and reach for the dress that she had set aside for this day. Carefully placing it on her bed she called for two of her maids. Lise really didn't think she needed them, but everybody wanted her to look her best for the wedding.

The maids stormed into the room within a few seconds of her call, and before Lise could acknowledge their presence in the room they had her standing up with arms outstretched so they could fit the dress properly. Why hadn't she had agility like this when she was fighting Dangaard she wondered? As the maids continued to move like a needlebird on Jinn's day, they talked up a storm.

"Lady Lise now how would you like your hair done?"

"It should be straight, she always looks most beautiful like that," replied the other maid before Lise could open her mouth.

"And is this comfortable enough?"

Again Lise tried in vain to move her lips before the response came, "Yes of course, the dress is perfect now!"

"Come on lady Lise, we have to hurry, there's only a little time left before the wedding is meant to start."

Lise was hurried out of the room, and almost had to sprint to the main hall, now prepared for a huge service, in her dress. She found her self tripping and slipping almost constantly. She really did hate dresses, they were so frilly, so polished, so not her. Entering the hall she immediately went to one of the side rooms. Walking in she found herself in a room full of her sisters in dresses just as beautiful as her own. Noticing her enter Eliza walked up to her, and promptly hugged her hard enough to squeeze the life out of her.

"Lise I was waiting for you!" she said, Lise could sense her relief

"You don't think I'd miss your wedding day now would you sister!" she replied.

"Well, knowing you Lise I wouldn't be so sure," replied her best friend wryly. Lise smiled, Eliza was so happy, her wedding day was going perfectly. Lise wished she could have a wedding day like this someday. Her thoughts strayed to all her friends, from all those years ago, she missed them, she missed them sorely. Kevin, ever the strongman, wanting to protect all of them, Angela the bubbly, happy princess, Duran the strong fighter who had always looked out for her. Her thoughts turned to him, Hawk, the man she had dreamed about for the past seven years, or at least for the past six and a half, before the nightmares had started to haunt her sleep. Hawk, that dashing thief with those deep amber eyes, that long purple hair, that sexy attitude. Hawk, the man who had kissed her for the first time all those years ago, she still remembered the touch of his lips, the caress of his tongue, the feeling had not grown old. She had kissed other men over the past few years, but nothing had been like that. Lise jerked herself back to reality. Hawk the man who was probably married to his girlfriend Jessica by now.

"Lise are you even listening to me!" Lise just remembered that she was actually in a conversation right now.

"Oh yes, of course Eliza. Uh I was listening to everything."

"Good, then get in position and get ready, the wedding's about to begin!" Eliza ran off quickly, and abruptly fell over her dress. Lise chuckled; Eliza was almost as bad in a dress as her. Stepping out into the main hall she took up her position as Maid of Honour. Next to her was her other maid. A tall, beautiful red haired woman, Sam had joined the Amazon forces after the salvation of mana, but she had quickly become friends with Eliza and her. She was excellent with a spear, and just as intelligent. Lise envied her in some ways and wondered how she would've done if she had had to save the world from destruction in Lise's place. Somehow, Lise knew the answer already.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lise caught sight of the men assembling, Elliot was one of them, he still wasn't old enough to be king but still that didn't stop him from being one of the groomsmen. He had developed a lot over the past 7 years, no longer the little boy who always looked to his sister for protection, but a young man who wanted to prove that he could look after himself. Holding his head high, he seemed in place among these people. Lise could see a good ruler developing in him, perhaps a little bit reckless, but a good ruler none the less. The other two men assembled in front of her, she didn't know either of them, they must've been friends of Hector who was standing in front of her

Lise heard the music begin and in a few seconds the doors to the hall creaked open and Eliza entered along with her father. She walked gracefully, with an air of pride, unlike Lise had ever seen in her before. Lise smiled to herself knowing how worried her friend truly was. Eliza would never walk like this unless she was extremely conscious of herself. Lise didn't blame her; she would be this tense on her wedding day too.

Eliza halted in front of beloved and smiled. Lise watched on as the vows began, she stared at them, that image, she felt the world flicker and distort around her and suddenly she was somewhere else. She saw a dark room, lit only by a few candles, and in front of her, there was a man, no, not just any man, the man she loved, standing in front of another woman. Lise felt a twang of jealousy and only then did she see blood coming from the man's body, he wasn't standing; he was collapsing, almost on his knees. The woman was no longer there, instead a demon, something of pure, unspeakable evil, but still, female, laughing at his pain, kicking him.

Lise knew to enter now, or risk loosing the man forever, but she found herself chained to the wall. She screamed, screamed as loudly as possible and the demon turned her gaze to her. Lise closed her eyes and prayed. "Goddess, save me."

She opened her eyes and found herself in the great hall, with a lot of people gathered around her, Eliza and Sam were in front of her, screaming at her to snap out of it. Lise quickly gathered her thoughts, allaying any fears among the crowd. "Guys I'm fine, now let's finish what we came here to do and worry about me later."  
But Lise knew she wasn't fine, throughout the wedding she found her thoughts zoning out to that image. The sheer evil in the woman's face, the chains, the helplessness, the man she loved.

The wedding ended however, with no similar events. Lise was quickly ushered to an area where, ever single woman in Rolante must have been standing. Staring she saw Eliza on a balcony high above with her back turned to the crowd, with a bouquet of flowers. Lise understood now, it was some insane tradition Eliza had picked up off Merci. It was said that whoever caught the bouquet would be married next. Lise personally thought that it was a completely pointless act that did nothing but waste time. But Eliza had taken to it like a Harpy to a traveller. Lise held her arms out and looked forward though, she may have been uninterested, but everyone else didn't have to know that.

Eliza flung the bouquet with all her might, Lise struggled to even stand up amidst the screaming women, jumping about like this was the end of the world. Lise watched the bouquet though, as it flew through the air it arced, and started to fall. It fell, and Lise saw it get closer and closer to her. It was only when she had it in her arms that she realised it had been veering towards her.  
Lise chuckled, "I'm next," before throwing it to the floor and starting what probably was the biggest battle in Rolantian history. She walked past and out of the hall, only to be confronted by Eliza.

"Where do you think you're going, my little bride to be?" asked Eliza tauntingly.

"Well, I was going to my room, but evidently I'm not now. And besides don't you have a honeymoon to be going on."

"And miss finding out what happened to you during the wedding! Not a chance. My beloved husband will just have to wait a few minutes now won't he?"

"And so will that cute friend of Hector!" said Sam striding out of the hall.

Lise smiled, it was as she had suspected, they were going to get every last detail out of her.

An hour and a lot of food later, Lise had told Eliza and Sam every detail she could think of about the vision. It really was fortunate it had not been her first; otherwise they might not have been appeased.

"Well the reason that you've had these visions seems obvious to me," said Sam, sounding rather pleased with herself.

"They are visions sent by the Goddess for some reason," interrupted Eliza, who sounded pretty triumphant after beating Sam to the post. Lise had already concluded this, but she had really been unsure of what to say.

"Lise the answer is simple," continued Sam, sounding a bit disgruntled, "you must go to see the Priestess of Light."

"Indeed, she may be able to commune with the Goddess and tell you what this really means," said Eliza. Lise wondered whether these two were really twins.

"We can't let anyone know where you're going, because dark powers may be at work. The less people know the better."

"Indeed, we'll tell the Rolantians, you're going on a brief, reprieve, in the mountains to hone your skills and uhhhhh... meditate." Lise stared in wonder as the two of them wove a plot so intricate that even a spider would be confused.

"I'll look after the army 'til Eliza gets back from her honeymoon, then we'll oversee it together till you return Lise, and then everything will return to normal."

And so it was. 3 days later Lise found herself in disguise at Palo, about to board a cargo vessel that was going to Jad via Maia. She didn't understand why the route had to be so secure, but Eliza and Sam seemed convinced that it was necessary. She walked up to the captain and gave him her money. She noticed him staring at her, but he hadn't recognised her completely. Quickly taking her ticket she walked past, head down and into her cabin. It was small and far from luxurious but she had been in worse. Lying down, she drifted into a deep nightmare-filled sleep. It wasn't good sleep, but it was sleep nevertheless.

Author's Notes:

Well, I bet I had you going there. You really didn't think I'd marry off Lise now did you. She is waaaaaay too cute for some random dude I make up. Anyway, I'm pretty impressed with this chapter, I dunno why, I just am. I think it may drag on a bit... But that's up to you guys to decide. Which, brings me onto my next subject. REVIEW MY FIC NOW!! ALL REVIEWS ARE WELCOME!! Anyway, Hawk's chapter is next, that'll be fun.


	4. The poison of an assasin

The Poison of an Assassin

Hawk managed to drag himself from the sandy floor back to his feet. He stood, daggers in hand in front of them, a burning desert wind blew across his face. His friends, Bill and Ben, were standing before him, their clothes covered in blood, but they stood, the dominant force. His friends lay before him, defeated and barely breathing, he was the last line of defence. He looked at them. They hadn't stood much chance against Bill and Ben's vicious assault. The two had torn them apart with techniques even Hawk didn't know. They were faster and stronger; Hawk had never seen anything like it. Nobody could've improved that much in that time. But then, they were under that bitch's influence. Perhaps she was giving them power.

In a blink of an eye they were upon him. They swung their blades at him as fast as possible. Hawk found that his second wind had come. He dodged their blades deftly, trying to fight back but not succeeding. Suddenly, he found that one of his blades had in fact connected with Bill, and the ninja was sent flying back. Hawk turned his attentions to Ben, who had taken flight and was plummeting towards him, attempting to finish Hawk off. Hawk dived forward for all he was worth breaking into a roll. He heard Ben land behind him. This was his opportunity.

He swivelled, mid-roll, and jumped forward, towards Ben's back. He landed, in front of Ben, turning in time to see his torso fall off his legs. He wanted to cry, but then, Bill had already recovered. Once again he dodged and blocked the dagger blows, and attempted to land some of his own. He stared into Bill's face. What had been a face of amusement had turned into a face of deep concentration. Bill attempted a double dagger strike at to Hawk's neck. A grave error, Hawk had taught him that move, Hawk ducked under the attack, but kept his daggers raised at the same time. Bill's face of concentration turned to one of horror as he found his arms flying clear of his body. Hawk kicked him to the ground; Bill was still struggling, defiant to the last. Hawk had to finish him, anything apart from death, could be healed. Hawk stabbed his dagger into Bill's neck.

Hawk saw Bill's face turn to normal. He saw Eagle's face, he saw Jess' face, he saw the faces of every person that had ever suffered because of him. He screamed, he screamed louder than any man had ever screamed or would scream.

Hawk woke up, hot sweat dripping over his body. It had been another nightmare. The memories of all his friends, they all still haunted him. Their faces, their suffering, everything. He walked out to the balcony. Some of them hadn't even died, but he still remembered. He stared out at the desert; at Navarre, his land. The desert had taught him never to seek forgiveness. The desert had taught him that things changed constantly, like the sands. The desert had taught him not to feel pain. But he still felt pain, he still wanted forgiveness. He knew he had had to do those deeds. He knew that they were beyond his control. He still felt no better.  
The thoughts rushed through his head like sand blown by strong winds. He was still tired. The nightmares had been stopping him from getting a proper sleep. He thought he should have recovered by now. In fact at first, just after the war, he hadn't thought about it at all. But it seemed as if every day, his sadness became greater and greater.

Perhaps it was because he missed his friends. He hadn't seen any of them in such a long time. But then, why would they have any business in the desert? It was completely out of the way, and it was difficult to try and cross. And besides, he hadn't gone to visit them either. Navarre didn't have much contact with any land outside of the desert. After the war they had decided that any outside influence was a bad thing. The war had nearly ruined the guild.  
But, that didn't mean he didn't miss them. He missed them more than anything. Kevin had a sort of unbridled spirit, it made Hawk smile, in many ways Kev was still a child. Duran had that knightly honour. Hawk had never really been that fond of Duran, he seemed to look down upon him as if he was better because he didn't steal. Hawk didn't like that at all, but at other times Duran had been like a brother to him, in a way, he reminded Hawk of Eagle. Then there was Angela, the beautiful, cheeky princess. Hawk always wondered why he had never got round to hitting on her. She was an absolute stunner, and despite what others might have thought, she had the mind to match. Hawk wished they had gotten closer, but then he wished for a lot of things. Then there was Lise, the beautiful, shy maiden. He had enjoyed every minute with her. Not only was she beautiful, she was calm and intelligent. Well, calm with most things. She would take compliments about her fighting as something she deserved. But any compliments about her beauty, caused her cheeks to redden, and any calm to dissipate. Along with Angela, she was one of the only girls that he had been able to flirt with on that trip without feeling bad about Jess.

The nightblade turned from the balcony and lay back down in his bed. He needed sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

* * *

Hawk slowly opened his eyes and closed them again, he felt his body moving and turned to see what was moving him, "Uhhh, leave me alone, more sleep," his complaining ceased immediately when he found himself eye to eye with a beautiful woman. "Lord Hawk, you have to get up, today's the day of the tournament!" It dawned on Hawk that it was the Summer Solstice, today was the day of the annual Navarre games. "Well then," replied Hawk, shifting himself from the bed, "I guess I have to get up. I can't miss such a brilliant opportunity to impress all the pretty women out there, can I?" Hawk shot her his best smile. He liked Kairen, she was a fun woman, always ready for a challenge, never backing down, not to mention the fact that she was a very good looking lady, with deep emerald eyes and long red hair. "And I can't resist the opportunity to support my favourite Lord." Hawk grinned like a pumpkin bomb, "Yes, I think young Lord Edgar would enjoy my support." Smiling, in the knowledge that victory was hers, she gracefully glided out of the room. Hawk smiled in spite of being shot down and added one more characteristic to that list of good things about her. He then realised that he had been talking to her in naught but his smallclothes and slammed his head back into his pillow, first she had found his collection and now this.

After getting dressed and having his breakfast brought to him, Hawk, strode out of his apartments and into a scene of utter chaos. Hoards of Navarrians, milling around, looking at the attractions, the little sand fortress was full to bursting. Yet Hawk soon found that a little bubble appeared in the crowd around him as people gaped at seeing the Great Lord Hawkeye, hero of mana, saviour of Navarre. He grimaced, all he had done was what had to be done, he didn't mind the attention really, but, he couldn't even flirt with a girl from these parts because she simply wasn't good enough for the legendary hero. It was a pain, a complete and utter pain.

Hawk reached the range easily, his bubble never really wavering. He looked around; all the regulars were there, as well as a few new faces, he really didn't expect much competition though. Eagle was the only one who had ever been able to challenge him, and that was before his quest, he really would be surprised if anyone stood anywhere near a fully trained nightblade. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Jess, with her new boyfriend. A wave of sadness took him. He had loved her truly, once. But after his journey after all the battles, simply to save her, he had come to realise, he loved her like a sister. Nothing more. He had spent all those weeks after, trying to convince himself that he was wrong, but his feelings didn't lie. It wasn't fair on her, he couldn't try to hold onto a girl who he didn't love, he would just end up hurting her like everyone else. She had cried, she had told him she could change, he had felt terrible, but he knew the pain would have been much worse. Yet, seeing her with another man, it still annoyed him.

He carried on, and stood with the competitors, he saw Kairen keeping her word and standing by Ed. Ed was a nice boy, Flamekhan's kid, but he was a bit dim witted and he lacked any subtlety with women. The poor kid was virtually staring at Kairen's bust, Hawk was surprised he hadn't gotten a slap, but then, Kairen was a pretty easy going person. Hawk walked over to them to relieve the poor boy though and turn his mind to something else.

"Well hello there my Lady, and you too Lord Edgar."

Kairen swivelled and stared at him, "And hello there Lord Hawk, hero of mana, leader of Navarre." She curtsied deeply, as if to insult him.

"Don't call me that," replied Hawk irritably. He didn't understand what he had done to deserve that, every time he thought he was close to understanding women, something new always developed.

"Then don't call a close friend "My Lady," my name is Kairen, in case you didn't realise my lord."

"And my name is Edgar!" piped up the young Lord, evidently trying to support Kairen. Hawk felt his cheeks heat up, all that complaining about being called a Lord and he had just done the exact same to another.

Desperately searching for a witty way out of his predicament, Hawk remained silent for a second, and to his horror he found that he was completely trapped, "I'm sorry guys" was all he could manage.

Kairen laughed, "I never thought I'd see the day where you, Hawk, were lost for words. Perhaps you'll lose the tournament next!" Hawk grimaced, and started to walk away, when he was abruptly hugged by Kairen, "Don't worry Hawk, we still love ya! Now c'mon you two, the competition's just about to start!"

Hawk walked with Edgar and Kairen to the ten metre line, picking up a set of daggers on the way, "So Edgar, been doing much practice lately?"

"Yeah, I've been practicing day and night; I'll beat you this year Hawk!"

"Yeah, Hawk, Edgar's a lot better than he was that year, and as a matter of fact so am I. I swear it Hawk, you'll get a run for your money from us!"

"Kairen, you said that last year and I still kicked the both of you," well he hadn't exactly kicked them; they had been too good for that but they were still a very long way from where he was.

"Kicked us?" replied Kairen incredulously.

"You only beat us by one point!" said Edgar, probably echoing Kairen's thoughts.

"Aaah but one point is the difference maker in these competitions isn't it? And who's to say I haven't improved as well!"

Kairen glanced at him sideways, "Of course you have Lord party-all day, drink all-night!" Hawk thought that was a bit unfair, he didn't party that much, and after a day of making sure Navarre didn't collapse on itself, a few drinks were in order.

"Well then, I suggest less talking and more throwing, the others have already taken their first throw." Hawk, aligned himself with the target, he sent himself into a sort of trance, the only thing that existed was the target and his dagger. He was one with the dagger. His breathing slowed, and in one fluid motion he let fly. The dagger hit the bull's-eye right in the centre. He drew his second dagger, unaware of any of the others, and once again, the dagger was guided to the bull's-eye. He drew his third and final dagger, his trance seemed to deepen, he threw it forward and the world slowed down around him. The dagger flew towards the bull's-eye. It struck what should have been the bull's-eye, but it wasn't. Hawk saw a wall, with his own body hanging limply, held up from the shirt by the dagger. Suddenly he was inside his body. He saw two women, fighting. Two women, who loved him. Two women, one clothed in shadow, the other in light. Two women, desperately trying to save him from the other.

Hawk felt his mind shift back to his body. When he opened his eyes he found himself staring at Kairen and Edgar and to his surprise Jessica.

"Hawk you're finally awake," said Jessica calmly, though Hawk felt the sigh of relief, she was over him, but it didn't mean she still didn't worry, Hawk was happy about that.

"Oh Hawk," said Kairen hugging him tightly, "I...We were so worried, we thought something terrible had happened to you, are you okay."

Hawk hugged her back softly, "I'm fine, now tell me, did I win?"

"As always," replied Kairen, laughing softly, "You may fall to the ground dead, but you'll always win that tournament. So what happened while you were out?"

"I had a dream," and with that Hawk narrated his whole dream.

"But enough of that, it was probably nothing," Hawk lied; he knew exactly what it was, a message from the Goddess. He knew that he had to leave Navarre, soon. But one more night really couldn't hurt. "Come on guys, it's the Summer solstice, there's free chilled wine and we have the whole night ahead of us." Walking off into the crowd, he found Kairen and Edgar following, Jess, as he expected had melted back into the crowd. Hawk smiled, this would be a night to remember.

* * *

Hawk staggered into his room, holding up Kairen. "C'mon K..K...Kairen, let's get you to bed.

"And what about you Lord Hawkeye, you're as drrrunk as I am!" slurred Kairen. "In fact, you're as drunk as a LORD" Kairen laughed raucously at her own joke.

"Yes, but I can still stand," he replied before collapsing onto the bed with her.

"You know Hawk, you're my best friend," she drawled snuggling up to him, "You've always been there for me!"

"Yeah, well you've been there for me," he replied, putting his arm around her, "And you are a very pretty lady."

"Well, I think, I think, you are a very handsome man." Hawk opened his mouth but before he could say anything, he found himself flat on the bed with Kairen on top of him, kissing him deeply. He really wasn't sure whether his hands went to her skirt or whether she pulled his breeches down first.

* * *

Hawk woke up with a blinding headache. He could still smell the alcohol in his breath, just how much had he drunk. He turned and felt his arm land on something soft. He opened his eyes, and there was Kairen, naked next to him. He felt his arm, as if of its own will feeling her body. She was absolutely stunning, with perfect curves and breasts like none he had ever seen before. His memory returned to him, if a little hazy. Last night had been the best night since the saviour of mana, all those years ago. Yes, he had slept with many women before, but Kairen had been amazing, giving back what he gave her and more, and all this while she was drunk. It almost saddened him that he had to leave. But, a message from the Goddess was not to be taken lightly, especially after being repeated so many times.

Hawk lifted himself out of bed, and quickly got dressed. Lifting his daggers from his table, and picking up the pack he had prepared, with round drops and Luc a plenty. If he was right, there should have been a ship waiting in Sultan that would take him to Maia, and there he could take another ship to Jad, he thought it was quite clever to mdo that rather than wasting time. he left the room, attempting not to wake up Kairen.

Hawk was halfway through the door when he heard her voice, "Now where are you going, lover boy?"

"Kairen, I have to go, make sure Navarre's alright without me, I know I can trust you."

"You're going to Wendel aren't you, because of your dream. It's a message from the Goddess, I could have said immediately. I just thought it wouldn't be wise to worry all the people. Go, I know you have to and don't worry about Navarre, it's in safe hands."

Hawk smiled, "Thanks Kairen," he started to walk out and halted, "And by the way, last night, you were incredible, oh, and I'd put some clothes on if I were you, those breasts may be impressive, but I wouldn't like the rest of Navarre to see things I would like for myself." Incredibly, Kairen blushed furiously and with that, Hawk left the room, smiling.

That morning Hawk found himself on a ship bound for Maia. He was tired. After all, he hadn't gotten much sleep. Closing his eyes, he tried to forget, Navarre, and why the Goddess wanted him and just remember that blissful night.

Author's Notes: Well that chapter was absolutely massive, there was just so much to do! Sorry if you think it dragged on too long, but it was all pretty necessary. Oh, and don't pelt me with eggs over the whole Hawk/Kairen thing. You really didn't think I couldn't have Hawk bed someone in the first chapter. I mean he's Hawk for crying out loud, and he's older! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, my single Angela/Duran chapter is next, I hope you enjoy the great tangle that is Forcena/Altena diplomatic relations!! Oh, and REVIEW THE STORY!! Every reviewer gets a free, invisible flying monkey!! (that is permanently paralysed and doesn't allow people to touch it)


	5. The Wand of a Mage

The Wand of a Mage

Angela had once again bunked off her magic lesson. She kinda regretted putting an old man like Jose through that, but then again, she hated magic lessons. It would have been fine if she was any good at magic, but she wasn't. Everybody in the kingdom could use it, even that egotistical, fool of a man Koren. A few months ago he had been just as bad as her and now this, the strongest wizard in the whole kingdom, being given titles that were completely unheard of, wizard of the Red Lotus, please! The only thing that man was good for was getting on her nerves.

As she walked out she was greeted by Victor. He was a real man, unlike that stupid Koren. He had never abandoned her when he started becoming better at magic. He had always encouraged her and helped her out. In fact he had done more things for her than anyone else. For a friend like that, Angela was grateful. They wandered across the grounds for a while, talking of times long gone. Angela doubled over laughing as they recalled the time they put itchweed in Koren's bed. He had looked like a giant round drop for a week afterward! Angela really missed those times, they had been fun. Now, aside from these brief moments life was simply a chore. When she wasn't studying she had to listen to incessant murmurs about her weakness with magic or to her mother lecturing her about the safety of the throne of Altena.

Suddenly Angela was rudely interrupted by one of the soldiers. She was about to give her a good shouting to, but the soldier managed to get a word in before her. "Your mother wishes to see you right away Princess Angela." Angela was silenced before she even started. Quickly she turned around and apologised to Victor before walking quickly to the throne room.

When she arrived she saw Koren standing at her mother's right hand. How dare he! That was her place and her place alone! He was going to pay for this. To think she had thought him cute once! Still, she bowed before her mother; it was either that or get another earful for not showing enough respect to the queen of Altena. The woman was her mother! She shouldn't have to bow to her, it was complete idiocy. She noticed that Koren had stepped forward. "Princess Angela, as you know the power of mana is fading. Therefore we have decided that for the safety of Altena, the word of mana must be obtained. According to legend, if the energy from all the mana stones is released the gateway to the Holyland will open. Our plan is to release the energy from our mana stone first before launching an invasion of other countries that possess the mana stones we desire."

"And how do you plan to release the energy from our mana stone?" inquired Angela. She knew that to release the energy of a mana stone, a huge amount of energy would be required. "We plan to use forbidden ancient magic Angela," began her mother, coldly and heartlessly as always. "The type of magic that takes the life of the caster. Since Koren and I are too important to sacrifice we have chosen you."

Angela panicked, she could hardly get any words out of her mouth. She knew her mother never showed any feelings for her and even that was fine, she was used to that. But this! Angela couldn't believe it. It wasn't like her mother at all. She would never kill her own child, ever! She was her mother, she couldn't do this! This wasn't right! Finally

Angela managed to get one word out of her throat, "Why?"

Her mother was very quick to respond, as if expecting the question. "You who cannot use magic are a dishonour to this family. If you use the forbidden magics it would be a fitting demise." Her mother was deadly serious. She hadn't hesitated once. The answer had bee almost robotic like that.

"No this can't be!" Angela felt a power welling up in her, there was a flash and she found herself outside Altena. The snow was freezing, she felt darkness creeping over her. Why had her mother done that? What did Koren have to do with it? What would they do when they found her body? Angela fell unconscious.

She woke in her room in Altena shivering. She clutched her blankets tightly. Recently her sleep had been plagued by these bad dreams. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in weeks. Soon she would be getting bags under her eyes. Bags! She was far too young for all of this. But what could she expect; she was queen of Altena now. She had an obligation to the nation of Altena to sacrifice anything to keep it working smoothly.

Suddenly it dawned upon her, "Goddess, I'm thinking like my mother now." Another realisation dawned upon her, "And I'm talking to myself!" The lack of sleep really must have been getting to her. Suddenly she felt her heartbeat. It was racing. That dream had really gotten to her. It was as if her greatest fears had been exploited. Slowly she got up and performed some basic calming techniques she learnt when she was very little.

Somehow she found that if she did those, she would stay focused even in the most insane situations. And of all people she knew an insane situation Feeling her heartbeat slowing down again, she moved back towards the bed and lay down. Tonight of all nights she needed sleep, tomorrow the Forcenan ambassador would be there. No doubt full of Duran's foolish banter about a public alliance between the two nations. Stupid fool of a man, just because he was good looking he thought he could play her like a fiddle. She would prove him wrong, yes she would. Angela drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Angela slowly woke. She opened her eyes lethargically and waited for the world to come into focus. Her sleep had been good after that one nightmare but she was still tired. She was always tired. Getting up she put on some clothes lazily, and as she was giving her hair the 100 strokes she was interrupted by her maid, who had come to bring her breakfast. Dorothy was a nice old woman, she didn't mean any harm but she just couldn't help fretting over the tiniest most pointless little detail. Still Angela could never be rude to her, the trust between a Queen and her maid was sacred. She saw you at you weakest and helped you get back up. You had to respect her.

"Well Queen Angela, I have some rabite stew, freshly imported from Jad for you this morning, a full stomach means a sharp mind, and you'll need your wits about you with the Forcenan ambassador today. I swear those Forcenans just don't give up. They don't understand that we don't want an alliance with them. Altena doesn't need an alliance with them. We have men just as strong as theirs. We can fight just as well without magic."

Angela smiled, had this woman read her mind. It was almost as if she was laying out Angela's plan in front of her and adding her own little bits. Somehow Angela knew Dorothy was cleverer than she ever made out to be. Angela got up whilst Dorothy was still fussing over her dress, "Queen, you cannot go to court today looking wearing that dress. First impressions make lasting memories. You need to stun them and then whiletheir on their back foot surprise them, with your policy. Oh, this dress will be perfect!"

Angela took a look at it, it was very low cut and had slut written all over it.

"Dorothy I can't wear this! I'll never be taken seriously."

"Miss Angela, if I may say so, you are a very good looking woman. It will not hurt to have those foolish men from Forcena too busy drooling over you to think properly now will it? And besides, a few of them may be handsome," she said, stifling a chuckle.

Angela couldn't help laughing, "Dorothy my friend, you know me far too well. I think that dress will be perfect for today." Angela donned the dress, and after 20 minutes of Dorothy fussing over her, she got up and proceeded to the throne room. Looking in a mirror she smiled smugly, those little Forcenans would be blown off their feet.

Sitting down on the throne, Angela sighed. There were a lot of other things to do before it was time to see the Forcenans and she knew they were going to take an absolute age. Angela ordered herself a cup of spiced wine and began the day. Financial reports about the increasing cost of wool, the latest prediction about when Altena would become like Elrand, it was all a complete bore. But then, she supposed she had to listen to all of that for the benefit of the nation. If by listening you meant tuning out and thinking of your friends. She really did miss them; life had been so much more interesting back then.

Kev, he was completely insane and a complete laugh as well, fiercely loyal and a good friend. Lise always seemed to her like a contradiction, fierce yet shy and yet this contradiction made for a best friend. Hawk, handsome, funny, strong, clever, the list of his good qualities just went on and on. She really had wished that she had gotten to know him better. And then there was that insolent fool Duran. Sure he was handsome, but he simply couldn't help getting into an argument with her. He really annoyed her, once he dug in his heels that man could be as hard to move as a rock and twice has hard headed, but he had always stood by them, she knew she could rely on him.

Finally, the moment she had been waiting for all day arrived. One of her servants came in, "Queen Angela, may I introduce the ambassador from Forcena, Lord Lightflame." As Angela has expected a pompous Forcenan Lord, wearing armour as that was so shiny she swore it could damage eyes marched into the room, along with 6 equally pompous Forcenan knights. Angela noted that the one on the far right was quite good looking, he might be fun later. And as Angela had hoped, taking one look at her, his mouth dropped open. Just like Dorothy had predicted, this was going to be too easy.

Hesitating, the Lord bowed before her, "Qu- queen Angela, I bring word from Duran King of Forcena. He wishes that Altena and Forcena become more closely allied. We understand that trade between our two countries is definitely improving but we believe that if we are to combine our armies, no power in the world would ever threaten us again."

Dorothy's trick had worked like a charm; the man had revealed his hand to her immediately, the poor man really didn't know whether he was coming or going. Angela felt like she was reciting a pre-learned speech. "Lord Lightflame, I know you believe that we would agree to such an alliance immediately. And indeed it seems we weak women will soon be absolutely helpless without magic, and you strong powerful men," Angela tried to sound as seductive as possible, "will easily be able to protect us." Angela could see them being drawn into a trance. "But we would absolutely love for you," she could see them rise up on their toes in anticipation, "to leave Altena alone." Her voice changed so she sounded like she was spitting acid. The little Forcenan's had gone from being high and mighty to cowering in a corner. "We Altenans have our men as well and in case you haven't noticed, Rolante is guarded completely by women! We do not and will not everneed your help in military matters."

"Yes bu.." Lightflame tried to get a word in edgewise, but Angela would not allow it.

"No buts! The Altenan and Forcenan people would both oppose it. I hope you have realised that we invaded you only a few years ago. The people still dislike each other intensely. Such an alliance is a bad idea and always will be!" Angela smiled triumphantly, that was far too easy. Duran really had to choose a better embassy.

Relaxing, Angela decided to check out that cute Forcenan soldier a bit more. Her eyes ran over his body and came to his eyes. Those were beautiful eyes, she felt as if she was getting lost in them.

And then she was somewhere else. A figure appeared before her, it was somebody very dear to her. That, she knew. Suddenly the figure became darker, larger and stronger. It attacked her and she found herself unable to defend herself. This was someone she loved, how could she fight that. A tiny figure stood in front of her, defending her against the figure. It struggled as hard as it could, but was easily engulfed. The figure kept on moving toward her. "No, leave me alone, no! Stop! Stop!"

Angela found herself back in the real world, with Dorothy fretting over her.

"Dorothy what happened?"

"Well Queen, you had just won a decisive victory over those silly Forcenans when you suddenly fell unconscious." We got you to your bed as soon as possible. Are you alright?"

"Yes, Dorothy I am quite alright, but I had the strangest vision I have ever seen in my life." Angela then proceeded to tell her about her vision. "I think, Dorothy, that it was a message."

"From who Queen Angela?"

"The Goddess. The vision was too real to be anything else. But I don't know who to go to."

"Perhaps Queen Angela, you should go to see the Priestess of Mana."

"Carlie? But she's gone! She.." Angela felt like crying, she had been too young, too young to go like that.

"No, Queen Angela. The new priestess Sakura, she's the priest of light's illegitimate granddaughter, by Carlie's father. Apparently she can commune with the Goddess almost as well as her grandfather and most sources agree that she is wise beyond her years.

"Right and how will we disguise my visit to Wendel then?"

"We won't, we'll simply announce to the people that for the benefit of Altena you are going to Wendel to pray for the blessings of the Goddess. They'll accept it happily. Your mother made a number of such pilgrimages if you remember."

"Yes, you're right Dorothy that is a brilliant idea. Have it put into action immediately; I have a long journey to pack for."

* * *

3 days later Angela was escorted to Elrand by the guards. The people of Altena had always believed that sending troops to Wendel was disrespectful, and therefore the after making sure she boarded her ship safely, began the return trip to Altena. Angela handed over more than enough Luc to the captain for a straight trip to Jad, before retiring to her cabin. She had a long trip ahead of her and the longer she spent sleeping, the less time she had to spend awake. She had always hated travelling by boat, but unless Flammie or Booksaboo heard her magically, she had no other way of getting there.

Taking off her red top, she had been quick to choose out her adventuring outfit when she was packing, she lay down in her bed and slowly drifted asleep. The sound of the waves lapping against the side of the ship sent Angela into a calm, deep sleep.

Writer's Rants: WOOOOO ANGELA'S CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE!! Sorry for the huge delay, I felt uninspired during Summer. I apologise for Lightflame's name. I really couldn't think of anything much better. Oh and I listened to all the complaints about not having double line spacing so here you have it, I'll modify the other chapters later. But I bet you're wondering, Duran as king? What the hell? Welp, the next chapter's his! I hope you enjoy it. Oh and just in case you forgot REVIEW!! I WILL PAYPEOPLE INVISIBLE, INTANGIBLE MONEY FOR REVIEWING!! SO DOOOOO IT!!

_4 years later note: The double line spacing mentioned in my rant is now gone in favour of my newer formatting style. I still regret Lightflame's name though._


	6. The Armour of a Knight

The Armour of a Knight

Duran stormed into the cave, the rest of them were probably going after Koren right now, but he had to do this. That man had answers and only he could find them out. He looked up. There he stood, the Darkshine Knight. He stared at those cold, empty eyes and felt something he had never really felt before, fear. The knight's voice echoed around the room "Duran, give up. The Dragon Emperor has already regained his power... You cannot stop him!"

Duran felt rage boil up inside him, he was the best knight the world had seen since his father, he had friends who were among the most powerful warriors in the world and this idiot was telling him to give up and go home! "Hey, who the hell are YOU to tell me I can't do something? I'm here to avenge my father!"

Duran could literally feel the smile grow across the knight's hidden face. "Then you still don't understand... Duran, I am your father!"

Duran's stood, stunned as his entire universe collapsed around him. He felt anger, confusion, sadness, happiness, every emotion he had ever sensed came back and hit him like a brick wall. Suddenly he turned from strong and honourable warrior, standing tall to a gibbering wreck, kneeling down, sobbing. He could barely speak, "What the hell are you talking about? My father's dead!"

"I was revived by the dragon emperor Duran, now join us, you'll be safer on our side." Duran got up, suddenly, the world seemed clear again. This man wasn't his father. His father wouldn't want him to turn on his friends; his father was a Knight of Gold and his father was a great man, not a pawn to some idiot who thought he could take over theworld.

"My father DID die! He was a Knight of Gold! He'd NEVER join the Dragon Emperor!"

The knight suddenly seemed to become darker and more menacing. "Then it is settled. I'm sorry, Duran, but I must stop you at all costs..."

And with that, the knight drew his sword. Duran, drawing his own weapon readied himself for the hardest battle of his life. The Knight charged forward at him swinging his blade at him. Duran was ready though and stepping back parried the blows, before launching his own assault. The knight however, fought as skilfully as him, he simply couldn't land a hit. This deadlock seemed to continue for an eternity, attack followed by counter-attack followed by attack. Duran felt that there was only one way to end it. He ran, he ran as fast as he could away from the knight, hiding behind a nearby rock. The knight laughed, confident that the stupid young knight had gone to cower; it would be that confidence that would kill him.

Duran focused for a second and raised his sword, "Mighty Wisp give me strength!" He felt the holy energy from the room ooze into his blade, turned and saw the fear in the knight's eyes. Charging forward he leaped up into the air and slashed down, cleaving the knight's blade in two as he vainly attempted to stop the attack. A cut emerged across the dark knight's armour as he fell back and collapsed to the ground.

Duran stood tall at his feet.

Suddenly, the knight's hand moved, Duran was immediately on guard again. But it was merely to remove the helmet shrouding his face, his father's face. "Well done, my son," and with that his father's eyes closed. Duran fell, burying his face in his father's chest, dampening the cloth with his tears.

He opened his eyes to find his pillow wet with salty tears. He turned over and looked at the ceiling. Seven years and he still hadn't forgiven himself. He thought he was over it; it had certainly seemed like it in those short, blissful months after their victory.But then, in those months he hadn't a care in the world. He was among friends, he was young and the world was his oyster. Now seven years down the line, he was the responsible ruler of a nation. He had to care about the thousands of lives under his guard; he just didn't have the time for fun. Perhaps it was the pressure of it all; perhaps he just needed a break. But, then, he doubted that he would get one for the rest of his life. But the nightmares were getting more frequent and he was getting more tired. Soon he might not be able to get up in the morning.

If the guys were here he'd be able to get up. If they were here, he'd be absolutely fine, untouched by nightmares and ready to fight. He even doubted whether he'd see any of them again. Kevin was king of the beast kingdom; those wolves wouldn't even come within ten miles of another city so he really doubted that they'd let the king do something the royal guard wouldn't. It was a pity too. He really respected Kevin, he was an honourable warrior and a loyal friend. Then there was Lise, Rolante had already been a complete fortress before and after the invasion by Navarre they really weren't too keen on their temporary queen leaving the kingdom. It was a pity, Lise was a fine fighter, more than a match for him and she was very beautiful as well. Then there was Hawk, Navarre had almost been completely ruined by the war and it was really necessary for the Lord of the Guild to stay there while they tried to rebuild their reputation, even after seven years, it hadn't really recovered. Duran didn't really connect with Hawk, that man would rather stab someone in the back instead of fighting them honourably. How could you live with yourself after killing someone in such a manner? But then, Hawk was like a brother to him. His confidant when things weren't going right. Even if he was a thief, Hawk valued his friends more than any amount of luc. Finally there was Angie. He had had contact with her and she was possibly the most annoying woman he had ever come across. She continuously refused to accept help from him, no matter how absurd her position was. Altena would be defenceless without magic! Why did that stubborn, spoiled little girl keep on refusing! She made him feel like banging his head against the wall. But then, there was that kind, caring side to her. And when it came to looks, well, she was a complete knockout.

Still, he needed sleep and he once again had a lot of work ready for him that day, as well as the latest message from the Altenan ambassador. He turned over his pillow, giving him a fresh side to lie on and slowly sleep washed over him. It was sleep filled with nightmares, but it was still sleep.

* * *

Duran was greeted in the morning by a headache. But then, falling out of your bed onto a hard floor wasn't the best way to soothe the aches and pains in your body. Rubbing his temples he walked around his room, quickly putting on his bloody embarrassing regal clothing. Why oh why did he put up with wearing this? Oh yes, he didn't want to piss off those damned lords who had elected him to be king after Richard died. But why then did he care about what those lords thought? He could take them all out if he wanted. Oh yes, if he did, then he'd be as bad as the people he defeated all those years ago.

Duran lurched out of his quarters, his feet dragging along the floor. He was literally bowled over by his advisor Dayn. The man started spraying facts in his face about the political situation in some place and the possible grain shortage in Forcena in ten years. It really made Duran want to whack him round the head. Dayn was great at all times, apart from in the mornings. The guy just seemed to go into complete overload; he had to get everything done so his good king wouldn't get into trouble during the day. Duran was sure the man would explode if he was ever told that he never listened to him anyway. Dayn was a small man compared to Duran and he was pretty thin. Yet, his stature hid his incredible strength. The man was a brilliant swordsman and perhaps not so surprisingly, very smart. Duran just kept on nodding as he walked and Dayn seemed to buy it.

He was about half-way to the throne room when he found another figure walking beside him. Evidently she was patiently waiting for her brother's time. Why did that girl have to be so formal? Wendy had grown into quite the little princess over the years and she was probably the most sought after year old in all of Forcena. "Good morning Wendy! What do you need?"

"Good morning King Duran," 'King,' did she have to say that? Goddess, what he'd give for people just to call him Duran. The guys would never call him 'King.' "I just wanted to ask, is it okay for me to go out into the highlands today?"

Duran looked at her, surprised, she knew better than to ask him that and if she was asking him that, it meant that Stella had already said no. Still, he was curious about why exactly she wanted to go somewhere she knew she couldn't. "Why exactly do you want to go there?" He said it with as much scepticism as possible, just to make her worry even more.

The girl blushed furiously, "Well er… you see Duran, it's like this," Duran was immediately suspicious. His sister never hesitated like this, in fact she didn't blush like that either.

Duran decided it was better to cut in than to have her go on for so long that he'd be late for his first meeting, "Sis, what's wrong, tell me quickly or no'll be my answer."

She looked down, closing her eyes, "Well there's this guy and he wants to take me there on a date and I like him and I don't want to say no and seem like I'm not interested and if he takes someone else I'll die!" she spoke so quickly it seemed like the entire sentence was one word. As Duran tried to digest the sentence, he realised what it meant. This girl wanted him to let her go into dangerous highlands, without her aunt's permission with some boy he didn't even know on a date no less. And all this time he thought she was intelligent.

"No sister, there is absolutely no chance in hell that I am going to let you go out on your own-"

"With him," she interrupted.

"That just makes it even worse! I know nothing about this guy! I simply can't trust someone I don't even know to take you out into monster filled lands and do God knows what, even if you really like him! "

"You told me that Carlie went out at my age!"

"AND SHE'S DEAD!" Duran was ready to cry, poor, poor Carlie. "We let her come with us and she died, she died Wendy. I can't lose you like I did her, I just can't."

Wendy seemed as if she was going to cry, she turned away and ran off, half sobbing, half screaming, "You're just as bad as Aunt Stella!"

Well, she had gotten him in a fine mood for today. He really pitied the people giving presentations to him today; they were going to have one hell of a time.

Duran played a little game where he followed a speck of dust caught in an updraft for as long as he could whilst still seeming to be paying attention to the people talking to him. He was getting very good at it; one speck of dust hadn't gone out of his sight for 15 minutes. However, something managed to draw him away from his game, the announcement of the Altenan ambassador. He had to keep his wits about him; Angie always wanted him to make a mistake, just so she could rub it in his face.

The ambassador walked in, no, she glided in. Why did Angie's ambassadors always have to be so good looking! The girl had long blue hair, green eyes and a perfect figure. Did Angie just pick hot women to try to put him off? And did she give them strict orders to flirt with him as much as possible? Duran could have sworn that she winked at him when she came in. She had to realise that he didn't just think with his crotch. Still, he wouldn't have minded spending a night "getting to know her" a little better.

"Queen Angela once again rejects your offer to send Forcenan knights to protect Altena." Duran wondered how the Altenans managed to get a message from Altena to Forcena so quickly. His ambassador had only spoken to Altena yesterday! Well, the Altenans did have incredible technology. Perhaps they had invented some device that let them do that.

"Altena is a strong country and we do not require the help of foreign lands to protect ourselves, despite the decline of mana in the world. We are training forces to protect our country as we speak and we do not, under any circumstances, wish to weaken the forces of Forcena when we do not require help."

Duran looked back at his speck of dust; he already knew every detail of this speech. It wasn't as if he hadn't heard it before. He watched it bob up and down, do loop after loop. It was hypnotic; Duran felt every emotion just wash away from him.

Suddenly Duran was staring at the same speck of dust, but in an entirely different place. The room was vast, there were huge windows but no light seemed to enter through them. Yet somehow he could see, despite the lack of light. A figure that definitely hadn't been there before appeared. The figure was shrouded in a veil of shadows; he walked forward, slowly, in a manner that seemed familiar to Duran. The figure drew a sword and adopted his stance. Duran's eyes widened, only three people knew that stance, one of them was him and the other two were dead and only one of those two he knew could come back from the dead. It had to be him, it had to be. But then, he had beaten him once and hell, he could do it again. Duran drew his sword, adopting the same stance as the figure. Duran stared at the eyeless terror, trying to see through the veil. Suddenly, the figure moved, darting towards him. He brought his sword down, bringing a vertical slash down at Duran's head. Duran raised his sword to parry and the blades drew closer and closer.

Duran opened his eyes. That had been no dream. It was a message, he was sure. It hadn't been his first. Duran suddenly realised he was still in his throne. Not one person had noticed him fall unconscious. Perhaps his aunt was right; he could sleep with his eyes open. Duran wondered what to do; these messages were getting more frequent. Perhaps, he should see the priestess. The word was that she was getting even stronger and some of the more extreme rumours said she could channel with the Goddess whenever she wanted. Well, she was his best bet. Fine, it was settled, he would go to Wendel tomorrow. Everyone would think he was making a pilgrimage, in fact, he was making a pilgrimage. Hopefully he would talk with the priestess and all these visions will be behind him.

That evening he made the announcement to the people of Forcena and as planned they accepted it happily. The next day he had a ship readied to sail to Jad. His bodyguards would escort him there but from then on he would have to go it alone. Since the beast invasion the council in Wendel had become pretty uptight over armed forces entering the town. Boarding the ship Duran made his way to his cabin. He settled into his bed. It was a long way to Jad and he wanted to well be rested for the journey through the Rabite forest. Closing his eyes he prayed to the Goddess that it wouldn't be a sleep plagued with nightmares.

Writer's Rants: WOOOOO I finally managed to get this bloody chapter up. I despise Duran for depressing me so much. I just couldn't muster up the strength to write for an absolute age!! Well I'm very sorry for making you guys wait but hopefully the next chapter should come much more quickly. Oh and one thing REVIEW!! I WILL GIVE ANYONE WHO REVIEWS 2 BILLION GIGA-DOL-POUNDS!!

Actual value £0


	7. Old Friends

**Black Core**

**Old Friends**

Hawk hadn't had a good voyage. There had been literally nothing to do and the crew were about as intelligent as a dumb rabite. But then again, it was a cargo vessel, so it wasn't really designed to cater for guests. He was just grateful that they had finally reached Maia and his change in ships. From what he had seen in the Navarre docks, that ship was actually a passenger vessel. Gathering his belongings Hawk left his room and made his way to the deck. He stretched happily, resting his head on the back of his hands. Ambling to the dock, he thanked the captain for his trouble. It always paid to be polite, even if you didn't feel like it.

Hawk walked into the city, it had changed a lot it the past 7 years. More buildings, better built, this place had really prospered. Unfortunately for Hawk, this meant he had no idea where the inn was any more. Hawk wandered through the streets, searching in vain for the inn. After an hour or two, he finally broke down and asked someone. Hawk could feel them laughing at him behind his back. What type of man asked for directions? A smart one, he told himself, but really he didn't believe that. A smart man would've asked as soon as he started.

Hawk found the inn, but decided against going in. Since he didn't know where anything was, he thought it'd be fun to go explore the city. Hawk walked around taking in the sights of the city. Bon Voyage seemed to have done well for himself in the boom. The city was full of crazy inventions, not to mention a few of those horrific cannons. What on earth had possessed them to get in those things? Hawk sighed, they had been so stupid back them, Goddess he missed that feeling.

Hawk also managed to uncover where the weapons shop was hidden. Entering, he found an array of swords, lances, knives and one, particularly evil looking, scythe. Whilst browsing through he found two knives that he liked. Well balanced, sharp and pretty small, easy to conceal. He wasn't going to buy them but thought it'd be fun just to see what they were worth.

"How much do these knives cost?"

"Well, good sir, they were knives once owned by Lord Hawk of Navarre. Usually they would cost 400 luc however, due to their rarity they are worth at least 800 luc. I will give them to you for 700, a bargain I'm sure you'll agree."

Hawk laughed, he was going to shock this conman. "I never owned these knives, indeed I'd say that," Hawk looked at the knives for a second, "these knives were forged at most 2 years ago."

"Sir, I assure you, I know what I'm talking about and somehow I doubt you are Lord Hawk."

A dagger thunked into the wood behind the owner, cutting a bit of his hair. "If I wasn't Lord Hawk that dagger would've gone through your head. I catch you lying to members of the public again and it will."

"Yes, yes Lord Hawk, I'll never do anything like that again. I swear it. Here you can take the knives for free, just for your trouble."

"Good, make sure you don't, good day to you."

Hawk waltzed out of the shop pretty pleased with himself. The little victories always seemed that much more satisfying. And the daggers weren't too bad either. It never hurt to have an extra weapon or two up your sleeve. But his sleeves were getting pretty crowded; perhaps he wouldn't have room for them. Hawk wandered pretty aimlessly around the city, losing track of time. He only realised how long he had spent when he saw the sun setting in the distance. He made his way back to the inn, getting there just as the sun sunk below the horizon.

The place was, like the entire city, nicer than it had been those years ago, but it had still retained that homely feel that Hawk had enjoyed. He noted the new bar and restaurant that had sprung up in the next room and the new storey to accommodate for all the extra guests the inn must have been getting.

Hawk strolled over to the innkeeper and inquired about a room.

"I'm sorry sir but we have no rooms left,"

"Are you sure?"

"If you had come earlier in the day then we could have made a reservation, but as it is, you'll have to find somewhere else to stay tonight."

Hawk sighed, he had just had to go exploring didn't he? He couldn't have just gone into the inn and then left. "I am allowed to go to the restaurant?"

"Of course sir! The restaurant isn't just for residents."

"Thank you for your help."

"My pleasure sir."

Hawk made his way to the restaurant, sitting down at the table. Goddess knew, he'd probably drink himself under it. Why could he not just go to the bloody inn before going out again? Perhaps he could go down to Bon Voyage's place. The man might make him go insane overnight but at least he'd be able to go to sleep. One of the waitresses walked over to him, taking his order. She was quite good looking really. She had nice smile and beautiful eyes. She was a little fat, no he wouldn't say that, more plump but it didn't really take away from her. Hawk absent-mindedly ordered the chicken; he wasn't really interested in what he ate, as long as it was well cooked. He also ordered some mulled wine. He lay back, putting his hands behind his head. He was being too pessimistic, it had been a good day, and it wasn't as if he hadn't slept on the ground a few times. Besides, he could just stay up all night and keep exploring.

Hawk looked around, there were a few people in the restaurant and a few at the bar, most were enjoying their food and drinks but Hawk noticed a cute blonde sitting at the bar, or at least a blonde who seemed cute. Hawk couldn't see her face, but she still looked pretty nice, despite the heavy robes she was wearing. Hawk noticed a spear by her. So she was an amazon eh? No wonder she didn't really want to be noticed. They hardly ever left Rolante any more. Perhaps he would profit from talking to her. It'd be fun and who knows, with his links and undeniable charm he might even be able to get a room with her. Suddenly thoughts of Kairen filled his mind. Hawk banished these as soon as they arose, it had been a fling, they were blind drunk, it didn't mean anything. And besides, knowing her, she'd probably have found another man by now. Still, it seemed a little dishonest, but then, you only lived once.

Hawk rose from his seat and made his way over to the bar as calmly as possible, coming to a halt just behind the amazon. "You know, it's illegal to be that good looking in these parts, but if you let me buy to a drink I might let you off on good behaviour," it wasn't his best, but most women were impressed by the guts it took to say it.

The amazon didn't even turn around, "One, no country has laws like that. Two, that is one of the most appalling pick-up lines I've ever heard. Three, if you did actually know me, you wouldn't want to buy me a drink and four, if you don't make yourself scarce right now, this spear will go straight through your stomach." The amazon turned around, still speaking, "Are you….." her eyes had widened. "Hawk!"

"Lise!"

* * *

Lise threw herself onto her friend, hugging him, probably tight enough to make his eyes pop. "Hawk! I missed you! Where have you been? Why haven't you dropped by?" Lise could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She prayed that she wouldn't cry in front of him. 

"I missed you too Lise" he said, laughing softly, "but you'll be missing me for a lot longer if you don't let go."

Lise blushed, quickly letting go, "Sorry, I just… well I just needed to do that. Uh, please, sit down… we have a lot of catching up to do."

"Well you usually do, after not seeing one of your best friends for 5 years."

"Well then why haven't you visited?" Lise asked. She was pretty angry about his absence.

"I could ask you the same question! In case you didn't realise, I'm head of state too!" Lise blushed again, how could she have been so stupid? But she couldn't give in to him!

"Well that's still no excuse, you know how strict the Rolantians are and in case you didn't realise, seven years ago you guys invaded our kingdom."

"And in case you didn't realise, Navarre was defeated in that invasion and in case you didn't realise, Deen and Sultan will overrun us if we try anything anywhere near suspicious!"

"And do you call letting the head of state leave the country for no apparent reason completely innocent!"

"Well then why are you out of the country!"

"I have an important meeting with the priestess if you must know!" Lise was fuming. How dare he question her motives! He was the thief!

But for some reason Hawk had stopped, he was staring at her quite funnily now. "Lise, did you just say you were going to see the priestess?"

"Yes, what do you think I said? Are you deaf?"

"You know what's weird? I'm going there too!"

"You're kidding! That's unbelievable! And I'll just bet that you're taking the boat tomorrow."

"Lise, I bet you're thinking what I'm thinking. I'd put Luc on it."

"Yeah, I guess," Lise could barely contain herself, journeying with Hawk again, she'd have given up anything in the world for it, "we'll be travelling together, it'll be like old times." Lise could feel herself grinning like an idiot.

Hawk just smiled at her, "How did we get on to this topic?"

Lise laughed softly, she could feel her cheeks reddening. How had she let herself go out of control like that? And she thought she had been maturing with age. "Hawk, I have no idea."

"Well, let's start from the beginning again. I walked up behind you and…"

"Goddess Hawk, where did you pick up such a terrible, terrible, line?" Lise couldn't help herself from interrupting. She had been wondering about that for the entire conversation.

"Hey, I personally think it's very good!"

"Well then Hawk you seriously need to revise your chat up lines." She meant it. A very charming man like Hawk with a chat up line like that, it was, or at least should have been impossible.

"But I meant what I said! You look beautiful."

Lise blushed furiously. Hawk always managed to do that to her. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she do the same thing to him? Cursed man. "Well uh… you don't look that bad yourself Hawk, in fact you look quite handsome." She really meant it. That blasted man had somehow managed to get better looking with age! How did he do it! Arrgh now she was thinking of him romantically. She didn't need this!

"Yeah, I'm sure someone as hot as you would be married by now, I don't see how any man could resist."

Lise frowned, he had just had to mention marriage didn't he. "You'd be surprised."

"You've got to be kidding me, I don't believe it."

"Well, being queen is a lonely job."

"But come on, I'm sure you've had a few hundred Lords throw themselves at you."

"We don't really have Lords in Rolante Hawk."

"Yeah, but still, there should at least be some from foreign kingdoms."

"No Hawk, Rolante doesn't allow anyone like that in now. Not after the invasion."

"Yeah, but what about normal guys then?"

Why wouldn't he just drop it? Lise sighed, she had to give him the proper answer, "Most men in Rolante think that they're too far below me in terms of class to even think of talking to me. The men from Palo and elsewhere, they're not too bothered about that. But they're intimidated by a girl who could probably hand their head to them if she wanted. And those who aren't, well I can't really give them what they want. If you know what I mean." Lise blushed deeply, she couldn't believe she had gone through with that.

"I don't understand Lise, what can't you give them? I mean you have everything, power, money, and very good looks. What else does a guy need?"

Lise felt like screaming. Could the man not take a bloody hint! "Look Hawk, I'm an amazon, we have customs, important customs. If I don't follow them then I'll cease to be an amazon and I can't have that. Let's just say that most guys would like me to break one of my amazon customs quite badly. Now do you get it?"

Hawk looked very confused "No, I still don't follow you. What custom do you have to break? Just tell me!"

How could the man be so dense? It should have been obvious. "Hawk, I can't have sex before marriage okay. There, I said it. Are you happy?" Lise could feel her face burning. She had told him and he'd never care about her again. It happened with every "nice" guy she met. She felt like crying.

"That's all? Bloody hell Lise, you had me worried for a second. No sex before marriage, come on Lise, tonnes of people choose to abstain like that. It's nothing terrible." Lise just stared at the man. He didn't care! Lise felt like exploding with joy, the first man to ever not care about it! But she restrained herself she didn't need to be thinking about Hawk in that way again,

"In fact," Hawk continued, "the guys you went out with couldn't have been very nice if they cared so much about that."

Lise smiled at Hawk, "Yeah, I guess you're right Hawk." A thought sprang up in her head, "Hey Hawk, why did you hit on me in the first place? Aren't you still with Jess?"

Hawk frowned, "Well, we kinda broke up. It's funny, I save the world to help her and when I come back I realise that I don't really love her the way I thought. Jess is more of a sister to me now. Nothing more. Hey Lise, since we're travelling together, do you mind if I stay in your room tonight." Lise stared at Hawk apprehensively. "Oh no, I wasn't implying that! No, I'll sleep on the floor. It's just that the entire inn's booked for the night and if I don't find the prospect of sleeping over at Bon Voyage's to be a pretty happy one.

Lise considered her decision for all of one second, "Sure, of course you can Hawk. I'll gladly share with you. It's not as if we haven't done it before."

"Thanks a lot Lise! That means a lot to me. I'm sure Bon Voyage would have sent me round the bend."

Lise noticed that one of the waitresses was looking around rather confused. Poor girl, that must have been Hawk's meal. "Hey Hawk, I think that's your meal. Go pick it up, you can have it in my room."

"Lise, I don't know how I got on without you." Hawk got up and darted over to the girl. Lise felt her eyes following him down, she quickly looked back into her wine. It had remained untouched the whole time. Lise took a sip of it before leaving it and going to her room. She couldn't have herself getting drunk in front of Hawk. She'd look like an idiot. She made her way up to her room. She chuckled softly to herself. Just like old times.

* * *

Hawk strode out of the inn with Lise following. The night had been pretty uneventful. Lise had been shy as usual, blushing at every little compliment, running into the bathroom after seeing him shirtless. The girl looked as stunning as always, in fact she looked better than she had all those years ago. Goddess he had missed being with her. For once he hadn't had nightmares in his sleep. In fact, he was very well rested. He held up a bit so he could walk beside his friend. They talked, slowly walking to the dock. Things finally seemed to be looking up. Hawk just enjoyed being with her.

They reached the dock, Lise showed him the way to the ship. Lise's ship looked much nicer than the piddling cargo freighter he'd been riding on.

"A double room for the couple?"

Hawk opened his mouth, but was beaten to the punch by Lise, who was once again blushing furiously. "We're not a couple, but if you have a room with two beds we'll take that." Hawk was surprised, he thought that she would choose two separate rooms, not that he was complaining of course.

"Of course ma'am. Now sir, if you'd just pay 100 luc you can get on board."

Hawk handed over his money. For that price a very nice trip was in order. He boarded the ship with Lise and went down to unpack. Hawk felt like laughing aloud. It was just like old times.

Writer's Rants

Yes! I finally managed to finish this chapter. It took me an age but it was worth it. Don't we all just love angst! Sorry if it was a bit long, but then bigger is better! When I get a new review I'll write the next chapter, so please. READ AND REVIEW! FREE FLYING MONKEYS FOR ALL REVIEWERS!

Flying monkeys may not exist


	8. Background

**Black Core**

**Background**

Well guys, since I've been a lazy arse as of late I've decided to get back into things with the background chapter I've always been planning to do.

It's pretty evident that the story in Black Core follows a slight variation on the storyline of SD3. I feel that it adds dramatic effect to the stories because it adds some sadness to a story that originally had a "happily ever after" ending. But I understand that it may well have caused some confusion so I wish to explain it better.

In my story, the main character, as is evident by the fact that he is the mana knight is Kevin. So, the beginning of the story follows his plotline in the game. Kevin then goes on to meet Duran after going through the cave of waterfalls, so therefore the story to this point follows the story if you have Kevin and Duran as your first two characters (with Carlie obviously badgering them, Kevin doesn't let her in because she's only a child). The story follows the game and in the prison cell in Jad the two meet Angela. The reason I have Angela in the cell is because it's, in my opinion, illogical to have Altenan troops (in the cleft of the earth) to attack some random passers by. Angela MUST have been there to cue the whole, must go find Gnome bit in the game, because if she hadn't been there the bridge wouldn't have been blown up.

So there are your first three characters. The game then once again mirrors my storyline, until you get to Rolante. In Rolante, in the secret Amazon base, the group meets Lise. When the assault on Rolante is made, Lise (all be it unofficially) joins the party and during the assault they come across Hawk. Hence we get the Hawk/Lise kiss incident. Hawk doesn't join the party yet and instead leaves to launch a separate attack. The Navarrians are routed from Rolante and Lise, still trying to find her brother "officially" joins. The party then go through Altena and get Undine, in a similar way to how it pans out in the game. Then they go to Navarre, just as they reach Bill and Ben, they meet Hawk and the 5 party members fight the ninja. Hawk's dream in his introductory chapter details how they are defeated.

The party then goes through the Moonlight forest and defeat Lugar. In the game, Lugar goes off to be raised by wolves, but in my storyline, the wolves soon leave him at the gates of the Beast Kingdom and he is taken in. Then finally, the party go to find Dryad. Carlie at this point, badgers the party once again and eventually, against Kevin's better judgement is allowed in. The group find Dryad and go to the Holyland.

This is where my story differs completely from the game. The 3 strike forces from Altena Navarre and the Beast Kingdom, fight to begin with, but as our heroes go through the Holyland a deal is made between the leaders. They decide to share the power of the sword of mana so that they may all reach their goals. This led me to a problem. If they joined forces, who kidnapped the faerie? In my story the Navarrians kidnap the faerie, but all the groups claim to have her. So, the groups split off, Hawk and Lise go to Navarre, Duran and Angela to Altena and Carlie and Kevin to the Beast Kingdom. When Hawk and Lise find out that the faerie is there, they are forced to hold out till Kevin can pick up the rest of the party with Flammie and deliver the sword of mana.

The sword is handed over and the God beasts are released. The heroes then go through defeating the God beasts as usual. In my opinion the God beasts should be far more menacing than just big monsters; Lise's dream reflects stuff that might have happened when they fought the God beasts.

Once the God beasts are defeated, the characters are forced to split once again. They have no idea which one of the bosses holds the sword of mana and therefore, Kevin and Carlie head down to the Mirage Palace, Duran and Angela to the Dragon's Hole and Hawk and Lise to the Dark Castle. All the characters, with great difficulty (imagine completing SD3 with only 2 characters) break through the defences, finally finishing off the people who harmed them so much. However, the three leaders as is suggested by Kevin's dream join all retreat to the holyland, joining forces for a last stand. The characters unite once again and all 6 stand against the leaders. Finally, after a huge struggle, the Dragon Emperor Falls, then the Arch Demon (despite the fact he is evidently more badass than the rest) and finally the Dark Lich. The Lich, in the throes of his death, hurls one final blast of dark energy that "unfortunately" kills Carlie. Since Kevin never wanted her to join in the first place the memory of her death haunts him because he feels that it was his fault.

So there you have it, the story behind Black Core I'm aware I didn't explain what happened in the seven years, but I feel that it adds a little mystery to the dealings. This is stuff I wanted people to know and have tried to make evident in my stories, so don't worry, none of the story has been spoiled by this in the slightest.


	9. Where We First Met

**Where We First Met**

Duran stepped out onto the dock, stretching as he made his way to the city. The voyage, while not uncomfortable hadn't been the best he had ever had. But then sailing from Forcena to Jad with only his thoughts to accompany him was never going to be fun. It was early evening and he was in no mood to travel to the cave of waterfalls without some rest. The town hadn't really changed since he last visited it. It had been pretty large to begin with, not a patch on the capitals but large enough to maintain itself without much outside interference.

Not wishing to sleep yet, but wanting to relax, Duran ambled down to the bar. It had been years since he had visited the place, in fact it had been years since he had visited a bar. He remembered going to the one in Forcena every night when he was younger, but honour and obligation had weighed him down since then. Entering, he felt at home at once. Striding to the counter he sat down on one of the stools, demanding a large frosty one to quench his thirst. Of course, the offer of free peanuts with every drink was not to be passed up so a drink and five minutes later he was still thirsty. He turned his attention to the entertainment, a pretty girl with dark hair singing about how her ideal man would rule countries by day and slay monsters by night; all while bringing her flowers and reciting her poetry. For some reason, unknown to him, his glass never seemed to empty, always being full when he needed a drink. It must've been one of the barmaids, not that he objected of course.

As entertaining as the performer's singing was, he soon began searching for another way to amuse himself. He caught sight of a few men in the corner of the bar watching as another moved three cups on the table at an incredible pace. The game master abruptly stopped moving the cups and allowed one of the other men to choose a cup. The chooser sighed in half sadness, half disbelief as the master lifted the cup and revealed nothing underneath.

His interest taken, Duran strode over to the table, he was surprised when he wobbled a bit. "How do you play this game?" he demanded.

"Oh it's very simple good sir, I will put a ball under one of these cups and shuffle them around, all you have to do is pick the cup with the ball in it. 10 luc wins you 50!"

Duran smiled to himself, with his eyes, he'd have no trouble winning this game. "Alright, I'm in," he said, tossing the man the entrance fee. The cups flew around, but he never lost sight of his cup, when they did come to a stop, Duran was certain he had 50 luc in his pocket. "The cup on the right, that's got the ball."

The dealer lifted the cup, revealing nothing underneath. "I'm terribly sorry sir, better luck next time."

Duran could not believe it, the ball was there, he knew it. The man had cheated him, there was no other way. "LIAR! The ball was there! You cheated!" he roared.

"Now sir, if you'd please calm down, I didn't cheat you of anything."

"You cheated and you know it you cheapskate," Duran was furious, no man messed with him and got away with it. Not really thinking he threw a punch across the table, landing it square on the man's jaw. Duran was pretty sure the crunch he felt was the man's jaw breaking. Tossing the table over, he attempted to continue his attack, but found himself surrounded by the town guards.

"Sir, you are under arrest, come quietly and things don't have to get messy."

What the hell were these guards thinking, they couldn't arrest him, "I am the King of Forcena. You can't arrest me!"

"Yes of course you are sir, you're also very drunk," the guard approached him. "Now just relax."

"I won't relax!" A kick, square in the chest, dealt with him. Of course, the other 6 guards didn't take to this very kindly, all pouncing on him at once. Duran backing away, sidestepped the first, landing a chop in the neck. The second, not far behind got a kick in the knee, causing him to buckle causing his comrade to fall over him. The remaining 3, reconsidering their strategy backed off. Duran grinned, this was going to be far too easy. He'd throw one through a table, break the nose of another and... Duran blacked out.

Duran woke, slumped against the wall of a prison cell. He felt a large bruise on his head. It had to be a club or staff, no one, save Kevin perhaps, could punch like that. He got up and looked around, there was only one guard. His sword and other possessions were in a bundle at the end of the corridor. There was no way he could get them without getting out of the cell. All he had to do was to trick the guard and these guards weren't the sharpest tools the in shed.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Someone was coming down the stairs. A robed figure appeared in the light, a hood obscuring the face. He walked to the guard, whispering something to him. Evidently there was some sort of tension between the two, the guard protesting that he could not do what was being asked of him. He saw a glint as the figure handed something to the guard, who suddenly seemed far more amiable. The guard walked away and to his surprise up the stairs. The cloaked man stood in front of him.

"I remember, this was where we first met." The voice was definitely not male, but there was no way what she said was true.

"Yeah and your bloody Angela queen of fucking Altena."

Purple hair flowed down as the figure lifted her hood, those dark eyes, no other woman in the world had them. Somehow she had managed to become more beautiful. Duran's eyes widened, it wasn't possible.

"Mind your language Duran! You never used to have a tongue like that!"

Duran really didn't care about his language, there were a few questions he wanted answered, dashing to the front of the cell, he grabbed hold of the bars, trying to get a better look at Angela. "How did you know I was here?" he said, almost stammering.

"Well when a man shouts at the top of his lungs, "I am the King of Forcena," you generally don't tend to ignore him now do you?" Duran nodded, perfect logic as usual. He should've guessed.

"And why are you here?"

"I should be asking you the same question Duran, but I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. I'm on my way to see the priestess of Light, I have a few questions I need to ask her."

Duran couldn't believe it; "Angie, this seems a bit strange but, I'm going there too, perhaps we could go together, if you bust me out of this cell."

The queen made her way to the bars, somehow, even with that heavy cloak, she managed to sway as she moved, Duran never took his eyes off her. She stood right next to the bars, inches from him. "I would like that, I would like it a lot," she said, almost dreamily. She tugged his hair suddenly, "Red hair always did suit you Duran." It struck like lightning. She was flirting with him, that had to be it. "I missed you Duran, a lot." Her hand wasn't tugging any more, but resting on his head.

"Well then get me out of here and perhaps we can catch up," Duran's head was spinning, it was a wonder that he had even been able to say anything.

Angela leaned even closer to him, bloody hell; she was going to kiss him, "On one condition."

"Oh, and what's that?" Duran cursed, if he had been Hawk he would've said something witty or smart, but no, he couldn't even think up of something decent when he was about to be kissed.

"You stop asking to defend my country," Angela said calmly, leaning further, her hand slowly pushing him closer.

"Yes of course," Duran said. Duran thought that through in his head again, he couldn't give up what he had been striving for for months now. "Wait no, you know I can't do that," he murmured as their lips tou.. and she was away from him in a flash.

Her look had gone from seductive to irate in all of two seconds. "Why not?" she almost screamed at him. "I've refused for months and months! Why can't you let it drop!"

Duran was confused now, "Hold on, what happened to my kiss?"

"Why do you have to hold on to such an idiotic policy?" Duran sighed, women had a way of only hearing what they wanted to hear. But he was still furious, the girl had tried to bloody seduce him into giving up one of his most important policies. Seduce him! Did she think him so dense, it was an insult to his intelligence really.

"Look Angela, whatever dirty underhanded tactics you try, I will not give up on that. Altena needs our help, in a few years, when mana is gone for good, you'll have no way of defending yourselves and I can't let that happen. Forcenan soldiers will ensure safety for years to come and strengthen our alliance. You know it mak-." Angela caught him mid-word, "Oh spare me your bloody rant, I've heard all that crap from your bloody ambassadors. I don't know why you keep sending them, they're almost as stubborn as you but I always bring them to heel." Duran grimaced the girl had managed to browbeat most of the ambassadors into staying in Altena even after their time was up. "That last one was a surprisingly good kisser." She smiled at him smugly. Next time he had to send a female ambassador, but then Angie would probably set her up with one of her men. That or, Duran brought his mind back to reality, now was not the time for daydreaming.

"Well I don't care, I won't give up and there's no way you can make me." There, end of conversation. "Now get me out of here so we can be on our way."

"Well let's not be hasty Duran. I'm fairly certain I can change your mind. I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but you've given me no choice really."

"Oh stop bluffing Angie, it isn't funny, let's just go."

"Duran, what if all of Forcena were to, just by accident find out about what happened last night."

"They wouldn't really care, even a king can get a little drunk sometimes." He couldn't understand what she was getting at.

"Oh I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about how King Duran, Holy Warrior of the Light, Knight of Gold, Mana Warrior, was defeated by 6 poorly trained guards." Duran's eyes widened, no, she wouldn't dare. She couldn't. "Now as I recall your prowess in battle was the only reason the Lords elected you as king. What if they were to find out that their faith in your skills was misplaced? Now, I haven't studied Forcenan politics all that much but I read in a book somewhere that at any time the Lords of Forcena have it within their power, if they all agree that is, to depose their King in favour of another candidate. Now, I'm sure they're confidence in you won't be shattered by this news," Duran could feel his teeth grinding, this bloody woman would use anything and everything in her power to get what she bloody wanted, "but I wouldn't be willing to take that risk if I were you."

Duran smiled, she had missed one simple fact that would get him out, "I injured the three guards that attacked me and there were three in front of me, someone who wasn't a guard blindsided me with a mace or a staff or something."

"Well that's not the case, I quite clearly saw one of the guards you thought injured get up and clap you round the head with that staff, perhaps you're losing your strength Duran."

Something about the smugness of her tone, or perhaps her expression made everything click, "You hit me!" he roared, "You and that bloody staff of yours!"

She smiled at him, surprising considering that her plan was going to come crashing down around her head, "Now why would you think something like that? You're my friend why on earth would I hit you? It would be completely out of character." The sarcasm was incredible, but Duran didn't care, he had witnesses. Angela stared at him, he felt like she was reading his mind. "The only thing the people in the room saw was a cloaked figure knocking you out, it could have been an off duty guard for all they know." Goddess, perhaps she could read his mind. "And the guards, well they've been taken care of." Duran didn't want to know how. "So Duran are you going to forget this little policy of yours or does all of Forcena have to know about this incident."

Perfect, a completely perfect trap. There was no way out, that woman made him want to scream. She always managed to take advantage of him, it wasn't fair. "Fine," he said, defeated and depressed.

"Oh you shouldn't look so grumpy Duran, it's really a very good deal for you. You get out of jail, keep your secret and all you have to do in return is give up on a policy that was never going to work anyway." And with that she walked away. She was meant to free him!

"Angela! Where the hell are you going? Fireball the bloody door and let me out of here!"

She only turned her head to glance at him, "Oh Duran, you always did think with your balls. One, do you think I'd waste precious mana on something so trivial as letting you out of jail and two, do you want every guard in Jad out searching for us?"

Duran opened his mouth, but Angela didn't give him time to respond, "No?" she paused, "Good." She carried on to the exit, Duran still had no clue about what she was doing.

"Then where in the name of the Holyland are you going?"

She sighed like a teacher frustrated with a student, "To pay your bail idiot."

Perfect logic. How did he bear with her? Duran followed that swaying walk all the way out of the room and knew why. A pity it was only a day's walk through the cave.

Writer's rants

Sorry this chapter took so long. I struggled over a few decisions about what would be in character and what wouldn't. Originally I planned for Angela to kiss Duran and then be refused, but I felt that this was better. It just seemed more like them. Angela always implying but never quite delivering and Duran just being straightforward to the point of silliness. Still, I think it turned out well and I hope you enjoyed it too. Chapter 8 may take a while, I'm considering whether I should have a Kevin chapter or just go straight to Wendel. I'll try to keep you posted. Please R&R, free invisible, untouchable and immovable bars of gold for all those who review. (Real value of gold bars 0p)


	10. In the Name of the Goddess

**In the Name of the Goddess**

Kevin wandered through the darkness. The journey through the cave had been tiring, too tiring really, even with the monsters. He felt, not unfit but rusty, it didn't feel nice. Even in wolf form it didn't feel any better. Admittedly he had kicked the monster's hides in all of two seconds but it shouldn't have taken even that much effort. He mulled over whether he should ask the priestess to check it out, but it was probably nothing, just years of peace beneath his belt. Nobody in the Beast Kingdom dared to challenge him, he was far too strong for all of them.

As he loped through the trees the dim glow of Wendel's lights appeared in the darkness. At first he had to shield his eyes. Even though the lights were as dim they still burned his wolf eyes. As they adjusted though, a small smile came across his face. It wouldn't be long till he got to the priestess and would have all his troubles solved. Well, some of his troubles solved, he would've been naïve to think that a few magical words from the priestess could make a message from the Goddess go away. Still he had a warm bed to look forward to and a good meal. He hadn't eaten anything but rounds drops and bread since he left Jad. But then he had never really been much of a cook, in those years in the wilderness he and Karl had just eaten anything they could find raw. Wolves didn't need cooked food, but now, well he had become soft, he couldn't imagine doing that again. Hawk and Lise had always made the meals for the groups. The amazons were all trained in that just in case they found themselves alone and Hawk knew about spices that gave something extra to even the worst meal. And after becoming King, well, he was treated like one, someone to cook his meals, buy his clothes, and remind him of appointments, he wouldn't have been surprised if eventually someone had offered to chew his food for him.

Exiting the foliage he came to the main gates of the town, they weren't barred, the gates to Wendel were never barred, save all those years ago, but that was in the past. He walked in, looking around; the town hadn't changed a bit. Perhaps there were a few more houses here and there, but its essence, that was still the same. It felt like home.

Kevin caught sight of a man entering his house, no doubt after a night of alcohol and pleasant company in the bar. Kevin walked over quickly, to catch the man before he entered his home; he had a few questions to ask before he went to see the priestess. It was always best to catch the mood in a town before doing anything drastic. "Excuse me, sir," he said, drawing up a few feet away from the man, "it's been a while since I've been here, could you help me out?" The man turned and froze, eyes widening. "Is there anything wrong sir?" Kevin enquired, getting rather worried.

"Beastman! HELP!" the man screamed at the top of his lungs. Kevin's eyes widened, surely they didn't think that he would try another invasion. He desperately tried to reason with the man, telling him that he was alone, and he was merely here to see the priestess, but he had to reason with a door locked in his place. Kevin whirled around to find the local guards surrounding the house. This wasn't how it was meant to be. He didn't want to fight these guys.

"Guards, this is a misunderstanding, I don't want any trouble, I'm just here to see the priestess, I bring no others with me."

"Yes sir, but, if you'd come with us, your kind can cause a bit of an uproar. Couldn't you have come in the morning instead?"

Kevin felt like an idiot, he hadn't even realised that he would've seemed strange to these people in this form. He'd spent too much time in the beast kingdom. It felt so obvious now. A night in the cells wouldn't be enough punishment for this. "I'll come quietly, I mean no harm."

"Sir if you don't mind, we need to cuff you, the townspeople wouldn't feel safe otherwise."

Kevin decided the humiliation of being paraded through town with handcuffs locked around his hands would humble him enough to remind him of this occasion. "Yes of course, I wouldn't want to worry the people." Kevin raised his hands and the guard approached him tentatively.

The cuffs were placed around his wrists and he was led away, yet he hadn't taken more than two steps when all the guards, save the two nearest him fell to their knees. Looking up he saw a tall woman, with blonde hair. She looked like an older version of Carlie, except her eyes; instead of marine blue were a hazel brown. It had to be her, the priestess. "Now Captain Meilar, I'd advise you release that poor beastman, he is a guest of mine." The guards hastily undid the handcuffs and the priestess whirled to face him. "Now King Kevin, would you like to come with me?"

Kevin opened his mouth to respond and his voice stuck, he hadn't realised, but Goddess she was beautiful. He tried again and thankfully got something out, "Of course Priestess, I would be honoured." Before he was even finished though she had her back to him and set off at a frightening pace. He ran to catch up, finally reaching her side. He had more than a few questions to ask her.

"Uhhhh," Kevin hesitated, trying to make himself sound casual, "How did you know I was here."

"I saw your arrival in a vision. Oh don't look at me like that; you don't think the Goddess wouldn't let me know about such an important guest arriving in my city now would you?

Kevin hesitated again, this blasted woman kept distracting him, "Uhhh… I guess not. By the way, I haven't formally introduced myself, I am Kevin-"

She cut him off, "King of the Beast Kingdom, Mana Knight, Protector of the Moonlight Forest. And I'm Sakura, Priestess of Mana. There, we're done with pointless formalities."

Kevin just stayed silent for the rest of the walk, the woman was hasty. She seemed not to have time for anything other than what was important. Perhaps the old Priest had been like that before age slowed him down.

Kevin looked around as he entered the chapel, he had only been there once before and just as the last time it took his breath away. The priestess smiled at him, "I live here and the beauty still gets to me," and with that she was all business once again. Women confused Kevin, he left that area to Hawk.

"Now, I believe there are some friends of yours up in the guest quarters, just take the stairs on the right and you'll find them. I have work to get back to so if you need anything urgent just yell for Heath." And with that she was off again.

Kevin was curious about the friends she mentioned, had some beastmen managed to get here before him? Or were they staying here for a while? Kevin opened the door and was greeted by the most wonderful sight he had seen in the past 4 years. Hawk and Lise, with there eyes on the door. There was a silence, Kevin smiled unsteadily and said the first thing that came into his head, "Hi guys, long time no see." And with that they were on him, coming across half the room. Lise threw herself into a hug that almost knocked him over; he steadied himself using the doorframe before hugging back.

"Oh Kevin, you're still as sweet as ever. I missed you! Why didn't you visit? We would've let you in with open arms." She hadn't even noticed that he was in wolf form.

"And smart as ever I see, walking into a town, Wendel no less, like that. Kev, you may have learned to speak common properly but you're still the same as ever." Hawk just laughed, Kevin didn't really care that he had just insulted him, he was just happy to see the both of them.

"I missed you too Lise, but I couldn't visit, you know how the beast kingdom is about secrecy. I had to trick the entire population to get here! And Hawk, you better stop wagging that tongue of yours or I'll tie it for you." Kevin grinned at Hawk.

"So let me guess Kev, you're here because you had a vision from the Goddess and you want the priestess to make everything better."

"How did you know?" Kevin was confused, was everyone omniscient?

"Why do you think we're here my silly little wolf?" asked Lise, who had finally let her deathgrip go. "Hawk and I initially didn't say anything, but that priestess managed to gouge it right out of the both of us. She's quite a piece of work isn't she? Always as if she's got something more urgent to do. Hawk couldn't even get a smile out of her." Lise chuckled and Hawk looked pretty embarrassed.

"Aaah she's not my type, more worried about the future than about the present. I could never live with that."

Lise smiled, "No, I suppose you could not."

"So how've things been going down in Navarre and Rolante then?" Kevin was curious, new rarely got to the beast kingdom and when it did it was twisted out of all proportion.

Hawk opened his mouth but Lise beat him to the punch, "Rolante's been insane these past few weeks, with Eliza's wedding. It's a wonder how the most efficient soldiers in the world can run around like headless chickens when there's a wedding to plan. I swear I've had far too many sleepless nights because of them. I'll be glad when Elliot is old enough to rule, being both general and queen is just a pain."

Hawk once again opened his mouth and once again was cut off, this time by a knock at the door. He sighed, exasperated no doubt.

Kevin, seeing no movement from the other two, turned and opened the door. Heath stood, smiling as always and greeted him, "Kevin it's been far too long, but then I guess you couldn't really pop in and visit," Kevin looked at him puzzled, "Yes I heard about the uproar you caused, now come on, we must walk and talk, that means you two as well. The priestess is waiting for you. We'll have to hurry, but with a little luck there'll be some time to catch up."

Kevin let himself be ushered out of the room and at a leisurely pace, proceeded to the priestess. With all his talk of haste Heath wasn't one to rush himself. They spent the walk discussing pleasantries, about how the three of them had been, how their countries were, that kind of thing. In all honesty it bored Kevin, but Heath was a nice guy and it just wouldn't be correct to tell him to be quiet.

They reached the altar, finding the priestess just beyond it. Were it not for the people standing next to her, Kevin would've stared at the priestess a little longer. However, the sight of Angela and Duran standing in the wings was not to be ignored. Kevin let out a shout or a howl, he wasn't quite sure which, of happiness before rushing forward and grabbing the two and crushing them with his arms. However, a good whack from Angie's staff to his head soon put a stop to that. Putting them down he looked a bit dejected, before Angela smiled at him, "I missed you too you stupid wolf."

"Kevin, next time just say you missed me, I intend to keep my spine in tact for the next 20 years," the Paladin chuckled. Kevin doubted that he even felt that.

Kevin just stood buy as hugs, kisses and well, manly handshakes were exchanged. Hawk as usual complemented the pretty princess on how good she was looking and earned a peck on the cheek as reward. Kevin really did that he had Hawk's way with women sometimes. They always claimed they wanted a kind person to look after them but really, all they wanted were the dangerous types.

The priestess coughed, it was if she had been invisible for those few seconds. "Now if you're all done, can we get down to what's important? It must be obvious that this is no coincidence. You've all had visions sent by the Goddess and come to me for help. It's a sign and to be honest not a very pleasant one. If the Goddess thinks that something is so serious that we must be warned about it, then there is a very big problem."

"So, priestess," Hawk's tone was worryingly close to sarcastic, yet not quite there, "what do you propose we do about our little problem then," he seemed to add emphasis to the word "little," yet he still seemed respectful, or at least his tone did.

"What I propose is simple, thief, we look at each of your visions and find any clues." Hawk tried to open his mouth again but was cut off, "And yes Hawk, I do have the power to do so." The priestess looked at him triumphantly.

"Beauty and intelligence, I know only 2 others with that combination." Was the man trying to flirt with every girl in the room! Goddess, not one of them even called him down over it.

"Yes, that's nice Hawk, now get over here, the rest of you, you have to be touching me to see the dream."

Soon enough they were organised, with the priestess's hands on Hawk's head and the rest of them holding her shoulder. He saw the vision, yet, he didn't recognise anything, nor did any of the others for that matter, confusing Kevin further. Surely if the Goddess had sent these visions there would be some sort of recognisable clue in them.

The priestess continued though, but vision after vision yielded no clue. By the time it got to him, she looked tired and frustrated. This was evidently taking something out of her, Kevin felt like asking her to rest but the likelihood was she'd just get angry at him for suggesting it. Kevin stood in front of her, bowing his head to make it easier. A few seconds after she touched him, it was replayed. He didn't think they'd find any clues. The last time he hadn't recognised anything and his vision wasn't going to magically change when it was played back. He relived it, the darkness, he felt it engulfing him as it slew those people. He felt so helpless, standing there, watching. Thankfully however, the vision came to an end and his sight returned.

"I recognised something," Lise said excitedly, "I know where that place is. The architecture, there's only one place in the world that has spiral columns and that's Pedan. It can't be anywhere else."

Angela raised an eyebrow, she was skeptical, "And how do you know this Lise? I mean it's not as if you study architecture in Amazon school." She let out a small chuckle, though Kevin wasn't sure what was funny. These humans had an odd sense of humour sometimes.

"Well actually Angela I did," there was a little bite in Lise's comeback. "In Amazon "school" as you call it, we're made to learn not only about combat, but about every aspect of war, architecture being one. We learn why some walls are strong and others weak, you know the usual stuff." She sounded as if they should have all been taught this as children. "Well I wanted to look at the, well, more beautiful side of it." Suddenly she stopped and blushed, "I must sound like a total uhhh…"

"Nerd?" Angela put in. Lise seemed to go an even deeper red before giving up and looking at the floor. One time these two were hugging each other another they were insulting each other. Women really confused him.

"Quiet Angie," the priestess flashed her an angry look, "please Lise, it's alright, you may save the entire world with this."

"Yes, I guess your right. Well, I read a book and there were diagrams. It was old, very old, I assume Pedan wasn't hidden when it was written and it showed those exact columns, so yes, that's how I know."

"Lise you're a genius," it seemed that anything Hawk said earned a blush from her.

"Well then, let's go, the light warriors, together again on another grand adventure!" Duran was holding his sword hilt eagerly, being a king hadn't taken anything out of him.

Kevin sighed, the light warriors, save one. His sigh must've been too loud, since everyone in the room went silent. Goddess he hadn't even thought about how the priestess might have felt about this. Carlie was her sister, or her half sister at least. And she was the one who broke the silence, "Well, before you go cavorting off on another adventure you may want to get some supplies. In case you didn't realise, with mana being so weak you'll barely be able to cast more than two spells. I assume Flammie and Bookasukaboo are back in hiding, so you'll have to take a ship to Pedan or at least to the coast. Remember, you need to form some sort of combat strategy on the way there, since you can't rely on mana any more." The priestess took up a pen and quickly scribbled a note. "Show this to the merchant, he'll give you everything he has in stock, then head to Jad and show this to the dockmaster. A ship'll be arranged within a few days. You're welcome to stay here for another day or two if you wish. No sense in going back if you're too tired to stand half-straight. I'll see you off when you leave, but until then I have work to do," and like a whirlwind she was off again, storming out of the doors at the back of the room.

"Well guys, if you don't mind, I think I'll be off to the baths. After going through that cave I need a good wash." As much as Kevin wanted to talk to them, a bath was definitely a necessary evil.

"Kevin! Tell me when you're done! I need one myself since the helpless maiden here made me do all the fighting," Duran shouted at Kevin's back as he exited.

As the sun rose he entered the bath and punched the air. For 7 years he had been dreaming of this and now his dreams, or his good ones at least, had come true. Nothing would stand in their way.

Writer's Rants

At first I felt this chapter was coming together really well, but then came the priestess. I wasn't sure whether to make her act like Carlie or not. At first I thought this would be wise, yet it just didn't seem to click. Then I used this model and I think things just fell into place. Tell me what you think. Also, sorry to non-Kevin fans, but we haven't had a Kevin chapter in 6 chapters, it just felt right really. That reminds me, tell me what you thought of Kev in this chapter. I tried to get a sense of him being more mature in one way, but still the same in another.

I also feel that it's about time that I answered some of my reviewers:

To all reviewers who mentioned something about format: All my new chappies are going to be spaced like this one as double line spacing doesn't work on since indentations aren't registered, I'll get to the old ones if and when I feel like it.

Shin Ryu warrior: Thanks for the comments, I'll try to make it sound as natural as possible, I think I got a little too flowery with Hawk's flirting, so I kinda changed the style of it this chapter.

Mirowood: Edgar's name just popped into my head, but I suppose I first heard it off FF6. Duran's election is explained in chapter 7 by Angie. And you may have guessed, Saku will not be joining the group. I've also read your SD3 fic though I can't remember whether I reviewed it. And Duran isn't losing his strength, Angie was just manipulating him.

Yermog: I love Angie too and Carlie had to go since her death is vital to the story.

NinetalesDemonSakura: Well this is just a shout out really, so, yay!

Please R&R it really does help my story and gives me the inspiration to keep writing. Free golden halo of power for anyone who reviews.

Note such an item constitutes of air as halos cannot be seen by the living.


	11. One Long Trip

One Long Trip

Hawk struggled from his bed, he thought it was morning, but he lost track on the ship far too often. He wished he had taken a clock with him or something, but they were rare enough as it were and they hadn't had time to buy any supplies but the bare minimum. He said they, he meant the guys, somehow Angie had managed to buy all her supplies within the first few hours in Jad and had spent the rest of the day buying clothes and food. Hawk never really understood it, she'd just end up wearing that red dress of hers. Not that he was complaining about it, a little ogling was always good fun and with her, well it was more than good fun. What worried Hawk was that she had managed to drag Lise along with her. He'd never really thought of her as anything but a warrior, a cute warrior, but a warrior none the less. Yet, she'd gotten into it as much as Angie or at least it seemed that way from the sheer weight of clothes she'd taken. He'd thought of inquiring about why they needed so many clothes, but the likelihood was that he'd be told to mind his own business and keep his nose out of women's affairs.

Drawing his dirks from under his pillow, he made himself presentable and walked out the room. Yet as soon as he was out the door he stopped, there wasn't much point to leaving his room really. There wasn't all that much to do on the ship apart from drink at the makeshift bar and eat in the dining room and he didn't plan to get blind drunk till the evening. Going up on deck might have been novel at first, but now, there wasn't all that much to see, nothing but sea all the way to the horizon and according to the captain, they wouldn't see land till Pedan now. At least if he stayed in his room he could do a little work, there was plenty of other admin he could get done, he'd brought a pile of reports from Navarre that he hadn't got round to. Goddess, he sounded responsible now, heck, he wasn't just sounding responsible, he was acting like it! How the years had changed him. Determined to be rid of this new Hawk, at least for the trip, Hawk turned around, he was going to throw those papers into the sea and not worry about it. Yes, that sounded like the old Hawk.

As he took his first step though, he found a sudden weight on his right shoulder and two arms wrapped around him. He turned his head slightly to find a mane of purple hair in his mouth. "Hi Hawk! Whatcha doing?" A curious voice arose from the hair.

Hawk shifted slightly, so he could face Angie without being choked by hair. Not that he really objected to the position, a beautiful woman with her body pressed up against him, no that position wasn't too bad at all. In fact as soon as he moved he felt himself regretting it. "Well, I was about to go into my room and fling some papers out the window, but now I think I'm too stunned by your beauty to move another inch." Hawk felt like wincing at that, if he was too stunned by her beauty, then he wouldn't have been able to make that first move, it felt like ages since he had last flirted with a woman. There was Kairen, but then, that had been more drunken stupor than anything else and then Lise, but it was too easy to flirt with her really, she'd go red at the slightest compliment. No, Angie was the first girl he had flirted with in a good while.

Surprisingly though, Angie didn't seem to pick up on it, that or she didn't want to mention it and spoil the fun; instead she frowned at him in mock disappointment. "Oh well, that's a shame, I was hoping I'd have a handsome man accompany me for the day, but if you're too stunned to do the job, then I guess I can go to Duran or Kevin's room instead. I'm sure they wouldn't object."

That lit a fire under Hawk, he doubted sincerely that she'd actually go to Duran or Kevin's room but it didn't hurt to be cautious, women were complicated sometimes, "Angie, I would overcome anything to spend but a single hour with you let alone a day," Hawk's logic picked the worst time to cut in, "but what do you plan on doing for an entire day, there really isn't all that much to do on this ship."

"Oh come now," Angela frowned at him again, unfortunately this time, it didn't seem fake, "There's always something to do, you just have to find it first." Suddenly, Hawk found her clutching his arm, "Walk and talk little bird, we have about 5 years to catch up on and I intend to do it."

Hawk, not surprisingly started walking, smiling at his luck, at least he'd have something productive to do today. "Well, I'm at a loss as to where I should start really, with so much and such a pleasant distraction, I can't really concentrate."

"Just tell me about Navarre and how you've been getting on there, I've only seen it once and I don't think that one image does justice to the hard work you must've been doing." Angie smiled encouragingly at him. Great now she thought he was some greenhorn who didn't know how to talk to women.

"Well, we've just been rebuilding what Bigieu took away from us." There was bite in his voice when he mentioned her name, that wretched woman hadn't deserved such an honourable death, she should've paid for her crimes in years. "I let Nikita take care of the finances most of the time, those cats are really very good at it. I may be able to con a merchant, but i'm not that great at figuring out the ideal price of grain in mid Spring. I just supervise the training and make sure everything keeps in check really. It's not that much fun, but I think I owe it to my people for not stopping her earlier."

"Mmmm," she murmured in agreement, "Ruling a country is never fun, but it shows you've got character, as if I didn't know already," she flashed him a smile, but Hawk didn't favour her with one back.

"Navarre isn't a country and I don't rule it, we're just a thieves guild." Hawk paused, collecting himself, he'd almost snapped at her. "I'd feel uncomfortable with that, it sounds too much like what Bigieu said when she took control of Flamekhan. The Navarre guild has always maintained that Flamekhan wandered into the desert to find peace with nature, but we all know that he left because of what Bigieu did to him. He claimed it was his own weakness that let her take control and he didn't want to suffer the dishonour any longer, the dishonour of claiming to be a King. They may call me Lord Hawk, but I don't rule them."

The archmage frowned, it seemed a sad frown rather than an irritated one, but he hadn't meant for her to feel bad, it was just an honest mistake after all, "I'm sorry Hawkie, I didn't know it was a touchy subject, you'll forgive me won't you." She looked up at him with those emerald green eyes and gave him possibly the cutest look he'd ever seen. How anyone could refuse that look was almost completely beyond Hawk. Valda must've been a tough woman if she could deal with that.

"Of course I forgive you Angie." Hawk held her a bit closer for emphasis, "You can't blame someone for doing something in ignorance."

Angie laughed, delighted it seems, "Well I dunno, I seem to have done that plenty of times."

Time seemingly flew by when he was with Angie. After getting breakfast, porridge fit for the prison in Jad, they spent the day strolling about the deck, discussing everything from the work they were doing to which type of rabite were more annoying. It truly was delightful.

"You know what I regret most about our adventure all those years ago Hawk?" Angie said, seemingly in deep thought. Her voice held a sense of mystery in it.

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me," his voice was twinged with a hint of curiosity.

"That I didn't get to know you guys as well as I wanted to. I mean it was all so fast, one minute we were trying not to fall off the cliffs in the Gemstone valley, another we were fighting Dolan on the top of the Moonreading tower. It was great in its own way, but I would've liked to have had some time to just sit around and talk. There were a lot of things I would've liked to have done, but I never really got the chance." The look she gave him was warm, very warm. It was as if she was echoing his own thoughts, things he'd been thinking about for years now.. Were it not for that look, he would've thought nothing of it, yet it carried a hidden message or so he thought. Angie'd always been a missed opportunity in his book, but he'd never really thought she'd considered anything above mild flirting.

Hawk tried to think of a witty response, but perhaps being honest might have its rewards, "I," Hawk hesitated slightly, "I know what you mean Angie, I've always thought about what might've been you know? What might have happened if we'd just had a little more time, but we had to grow up too fast." Angie was staring at him, it wasn't impolite, not even vaguely confused, it was pure understanding.

"Guys! Finally, where the hell have you been?"

The moment was broken as Duran almost ran headlong into them, "We decided to take a swim in the ocean, where do you think we were you myconid-brained idiot!" Angela was fuming apparently. "You run about like that on the ship again and I swear I will put you on the wrong end of a fireball."

Duran kept calm, "All I was trying to do was tell you that you're late for the meeting," their looks of confusion must've said enough, "you know, that meeting we arranged yesterday to discuss some sort of plan of action for when we get to Pedan?"

Angela was suddenly on top of Duran, seemingly showering all her feminine charm onto him, "Duran sweetie, when exactly were we told about this? Don't worry I'm not mad with you."

Duran hesitated, probably as confused by Angela's mood swing as Hawk, "Well it was yesterday evening, in the restaurant."

Angela batted her eyelashes at him, "Oh I know, that was when both Hawk and I," Angie's voice suddenly grew loud and not very pleased, "were blind drunk! Trust you to be so damned dim-witted to not even realise that two people who're drunk will likely not remember the night before. Duran your stupidity surprises even me." She whirled to face Hawk, "Come on Hawk let's go."

Hawk, not wanting an ice smash down his trousers decided to follow Angela without a word. At the furious pace she set they were soon in the room, the dining room, with a map spread over one of the tables. Lise and Kevin looked up as they entered, but they seemingly had judged Angie's mood and simply nodded hello. Duran quickly followed Hawk in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Kevin stood up to say something, but was cut short by the still irate Angela, evidently on a roll, "Can we just get this damned business over with, I don't understand why we can't just run in and hope for the best like we did last time. It always seemed to work out." The grim look from half the room however, seemed to stop her in her tracks. Angela looked dejectedly at the wall, she was a lot quieter, "Oh, I'm sorry guys, I forgot."

Kevin, who'd stayed standing throughout Angie's tirade, resumed from where he left off. "Guys, it's simple really, we'll be landing north of Pedan, assuming that the enemy hasn't managed to take over the entire mirage forest, we should be able to reach the city without too much trouble. Kevin pointed to a point on the map, "this is the North entrance of Pedan, we all know it pretty well. And here and here," he pointed to points either side of the entrance, "is where an enemy could lay an ambush. We don't know whether the enemy will have the entire city or whether, indeed there will be any enemies at all, but it's better to be safe. We can't really prepare for every single ambush possible in a city the size of Pedan so we'll do it Angela style from then on." The wolfman gave a wry grin at the Queen of Reason.

Angie seemed to take offense at this and took this as an opening for her to add her fair share, "Kevin I think you're missing the main point of all of this, we need to plan because mana is dying and without Carlie we only have Duran to heal us." Angie hadn't even winced at mentioning Carlie, a hard woman, a hot one, but still. "The fact is that you guys are going to have to survive without Lise strengthening you all the time and without me wiping a good third of the enemies off the face of the planet. Simply put, we can't pull off a direct assault if the town is overrun."

Kevin seemed embarrassed that he hadn't realised this straight away, "Then what Angie do you propose we do?"

"We attack at night, I'm surprised you didn't think of it Kev, you'll be far stronger, Hawk'll be able to hide better, their troops will be asleep, it'll be far easier than your little daytime assault. Since you guys will be able to take out more, I'll be able to conserve mana and take down anything that's vastly stronger than the rest."

Kevin seemed dumbstruck really, all that tactical training in the beast kingdom and Angie of all people had thought of a plan better than his own in less than a few seconds. Hawk thought it was because Kevin had assumed that everyone would be up at night, the beast kingdom probably did that to a guy, "Yes, Angie, I think that'll work. It's too bad we don't have any of that pollen from the sleep flowers really, but we'll live I'm sure. Guys, you should start getting prepared for this, I don't know if you can train with your weapons on the ship, but it wouldn't hurt. I have a feeling about this one, I think it's the Goddess, but it's not going to be easy."

Everyone else took this as their cue to leave and Hawk followed suit. Nodding at Duran again and smiling politely at Lise, well perhaps a bit more than politely but still, it was nothing really, she barely blushed. Yet before he knew it Angie was at his side again. And they were soon finding their way back to a more secluded part of the ship, however secluded you could be on a vessel with 20 crew and passengers. And once again they easily slipped back into their conversation. Unfortunately not quite at the same point as they were before, but it was still pleasant.

The day drew on, the two of them forgot to even get lunch, dinner was another thing, but they ate hastily and got away again, without anyone noticing seemingly. But night drew quickly in and soon Hawk's yawns punctuated most of his sentences. Angela however, seemed to have lost none of her energy, "You know what's been annoying me like hell recently, that bloody Paladin, he's been going on about some alliance between Altena and Forcena, he wants to send his troops over, to my country! And for what? So they can protect it. I mean what will people think of me if I allow hundreds of Forcenan troops to pour into my country unchecked, they'll be more of a threat than anything else! But the damned man keeps pushing it, it's really starting to annoy me!"

Hawk paused, they were right outside Angie's door now, he hadn't really been paying attention to where they'd been walking but Angie'd probably known all along. Perhaps she was tired, how she kept it hidden was really beyond Hawk though. Hawk felt he had to defend Duran though, he may have been wrong about this, but the archmage was seeing the worst of it. She didn't even want to find any good points. "Well Angie think of it this way. Duran's your friend, the only thing he wants is what's best for you and all he's trying to do here is protect you. He's worried that in the future you guys won't be able to defend yourselves and he honestly doesn't like that notion. He's going about it entirely the wrong way but at the heart of it the only thing he's doing is showing that he cares about you and doesn't want to be hurt. Just tell him why he's wrong and thank him for his effort, that's all he really wants. That's all any guy wants really."

Angela seemed saddened by this, a look of regret came across more than anything, "I've been incredibly harsh on Duran haven't I?" She didn't wait for acknowledgement, it had been more to herself than anything, instead she broke into a smug smile, "Thankyou Hawk, I had a great time today."

"Angie you sound like a girl on a first date," it was true, at least from his experience.

Her look became more sly than smug as she opened her door, "Aren't I Hawk, aren't I?" And with that she shut the door in his face.

Writer's Rants

I liked this chapter, it was good fun to write really and it gave me a chance to get in some more practice with Hawk. I've always thought that he's a little more self conscious than he lets on really. It also let me develop Angie more, since despite having two chappies with her, I still feel she's a bit lacking compared to the rest. I've tried to get a mix between the immature girl with a bit of an anger management problem and the calm ruler, since at about 23 (yes 23, Square can say all they like about her being 19 in the game, she isn't) she'd be on the cusp between the two. And if you wanted action, then I'm sorry, I felt this chapter was necessary and you'll get plenty of what you want next chapter. Speaking of which, I'm debating as to whether I should have a Kevin or Duran chapter next. Duran would make the story as a whole more well (geh, grammar sucks sometimes) rounded, but instinct tells me it would more of a Kevin chapter. Alas the ways of writing are too complicated for my taste.

Reviewers (sadly only 2 this chapter, hopefully I'll get more with time ): Yermog, Carlie is dead, she may or may not come back but I always thought that girl was actually the game's biggest villain in disguise. Secondly, here's a nice big portion of Angie, but you'll have to wait if you want some Duran.

Sinnatious: Yay shameless plugs work….. well a little anyway. Thanks for the review, it means a lot when one of the greatest SD3 writers of all time reads your fic. My futures for the mana heroes were essentially based on the classes I used when I played them in SD3. The only exception being Kevin, I chose Deathhand for him for plot reasons that will be revealed later on. I always thought of Hawk as a ninja more than anything, the light classes seemed a bit too… girlie for my taste. Duran's a paladin, end of. He's too innocent to be anything else really. I chose Star Lance for Lise, because from the game, she leans towards honesty and kindness, but being a general of an army, I reckon she's got a dark streak as well. I'm sorta regretting my choice of archmage with Angie. It's the most powerful class in the game, but it doesn't really suit her in this fic, magus would probably have been a better choice but you can't cry over spilt milk. Thankyou for mentioning the Kevin speaking English thing, you've given me a brilliant idea. Oh and yay for Carlie being dead! And a little favour I need of you, tell Terra-sama in your response to reviewers that the forums kinda died without her. And finally, a deal, if you update I'll update. A way to keep my fic (and yours if you feel like it) going at a half-decent pace.

Read and review people and if you're in the mood recommend it to a friend. An author can't do without readers and more readers is definitely a good thing. Free scythe of doom for anyone who reviews.

Note, scythe of doom may be a figment of the author's imagination.


	12. The Truth of a Vision

**The Truth of a Vision**

Kevin woke up, tired and slightly annoyed. Ever since he had boarded the blasted ship his sleep had been plagued by constant nightmares. He'd woken up in the middle of the day screaming. What troubled him is that he never dreamed of anything, he couldn't really describe it, specific, would probably be the best word. The evil in those dreams was a faceless one and rather than frightening the life out of him, it seemed to invade his heart with a fear he'd never felt before. Kevin yawned; then again, his tiredness could've been due to him staying up into the day to talk with the others. He disliked being tired, it took away his edge, that incident with Angie in the "war room," as he liked to call it, had just been embarrassing.

Slowly stirring from his bed, he reluctantly got up and went up on deck. The night was still young, the moon almost fully above them. They were expecting to reach Pedan any day now, bad weather had slowed them down a little, but now there wasn't a cloud in sight and the prevailing winds ensured steady progress to their destination.

He walked to the dining quarters, making his way to the kitchen. He'd been surprised the first night when there'd been noone to make food for him at this time, but then it wasn't really fair to make the chefs keep up till near midnight for a single passenger. Kevin had considered trying to wake up in the mornings like everyone else, but there was something so liberating about the night, to be able to wander around without eyes constantly on you, trying to judge your motives and thoughts. Night was far less invasive.

After a quick meal Kevin wandered to the bow of the boat, catching sight of shadows moving in the darkness. It was probably just Hawk and Angela. None of the others had any idea of what was going on between the two of them, but Kevin knew, he knew about their sneaking out in the middle of the night, kissing in dark corners where they thought they wouldn't be seen. It should've been obvious from the way they looked at each other; well it was really the way they smelled that had clued Kevin in to begin with, a hint of Angie's perfume on Hawk here, a dash of cologne there, things like that didn't escape his nose and the shadows didn't obscure his eyes. Kevin never said anything though, he didn't want to invade their privacy and if the others reacted in the wrong way, well it might jeopardise the mission.

It was then that Kevin saw it, land, rising over the horizon and the glow of a city lighting a small part of the island. The jungle had always been a beautiful place, of course the monsters marred it slightly, but in a way it reminded him of home. But there was something about this view that seemed amiss. Everything seemed right, but. It struck him like a punch from Lugar. The light, Pedan was shielded by magic, it shouldn't have been visible, but there it was plain for all to see. And the light should've been dimmer, a lot dimmer; Pedan was a fairly small town really.

Kevin ran headlong to the cabins, shouting till he was hoarse and soon he found himself amongst a gathering of crew and his companions, most of whom hadn't managed to get changed, somehow the two girls had managed to get fully dressed before getting there, did they sleep in their clothes? "Pedan's being raised, you can see it in the horizon, we need to help them.."

Kevin was cut short, a bleary eyed Hawk interrupting, "And how do you propose we get there Kevin? We're still miles off, it'll be at least another two days before we get there, now just leave it and let me get back to sleep."

Kevin felt helpless, "but we can't just sit here and do nothing, there are people there, they need us."

Hawk looked exasperated, "There's no way of making the ship go faster is there? So there's nothing we can do, we'll just have to wait."

Kevin opened his mouth, but yet again and rather frustratingly he was interrupted, "But there is a way," said the archmage, "I could," The archmage hesitated, not completely comfortable with the idea, "I could cast a mega splash, that'd get the ship there with no trouble."

"But we could well get killed! If it tips the ship, we're all gone and then we're no good to the world then are we?" exclaimed the thief, evidently horrified by the idea.

"Hawk, remember when we were fighting the God beast of darkness?" asked the princess with a smile, "You threw yourself in the way of a dark force that was headed at me. You were no good to me dead, so why'd you do it?" The princess didn't even wait for his response, she was pretty overbearing when we was like this, "Exactly, these people are no less valuable than me, we have to take the risk, the cost to us doesn't matter. And besides," she said with a grin, "it's me, what could go wrong?" No one said anything, it was obvious what they were thinking.

And without any warning she began casting. She could've given them some time, but no, Angela did things how she wanted and when she wanted. It was a damned pain. Within a few seconds, a tidal wave had appeared on the horizon. It swept onto the ship, the cold water washing over the deck, sending it headlong towards land. Kevin held on to the mast for dear life as the ship came close to capsizing, cursed woman with her stupid ideas that would end up killing them all, he was going to burn her when he got the chance, Seiyouu death fist through a wall perhaps, oh she'd pay. It was then that Kevin realised that instead of hanging on to the mast, he was now hanging off it. The ship was going over; they weren't going to make it. And suddenly, it stopped, he didn't know why, but the ship just stopped, and it righted itself, hurling the wolf across the deck. The first thing that hit him was the realization that he wasn't dead, the second was the wall. Oh that woman would pay.

Gradually lifting himself from the floor and making sure all vital body parts were in place, Kevin looked to see if everyone else had fared as well as him. Rather annoyingly, most had fared much better, having the wherewithal to keep their grip on whatever they had held on to, there were really only a few cuts and bruises where limbs could've been broken. In fact, it seemed that the two girls had already managed to organise a boat to take them to shore. Kevin wasn't sure on two matters, how they had got up so quickly and how the boat hadn't been destroyed in their recent escapade, still he wasn't about to complain and soon he found himself on the shores of the island, with sights firmly set on Pedan.

Kevin lead the main group through the jungle, being a wolf he could generally smell all of the pitfalls that the place held well before any the others could see them. Hawk kept ahead of the group, scouting for any danger. Apparently just because he wasn't a wanderer didn't mean he didn't know how to hide in a jungle. The jungle seemed a bit more alive than the last time he had visited. The foliage was thicker, the vines were stronger and the mud rather annoyingly was stickier, his feet were caked with it.

Even with Angela desperately trying not to break a nail in the jungle the group moved at a surprisingly fast pace, as if they'd just glued right back together after all these years. It was either that or Duran's insistence on cutting absolutely any leaves within a 2 meter radius of him to let the girls pass more easily. Kevin hoped in earnest that the former was true, but he couldn't shake off the thought of the latter. The leaves seemed to grab onto him and hold him back and often he found himself struggling against the handlike branches clawing at his clothes, fortunately, being a wolf, his pace was still faster than the rest. What worried Kevin most however, was the way mana was fluctuating around them. He was barely attuned to the spirits and even he could feel what was going on.

As they trudged through the bog of a jungle, Hawk reappeared from the shadows, approaching the group, evidently trying to keep silent. "There's an enemy camp up ahead, about 4 or 5 guys, probably left behind to guard supplies or something, they're blocking the way and if we go around, they're likely to hear and raise the alarm."

Kevin's brow furrowed, he could tell where this was leading, "So, they've got to be disposed of," he disliked killing, even if it was necessary sometimes. It made his friends wonder why he had chosen Death Hand, but simply, he disliked killing, but he disliked magic more than that.

"Yes, I think I should go it alone, there aren't many of them and well," the thief hesitated, "a paladin in full plate armour along with a Valkyrie trudging around with a spear taller than her accompanied by a werewolf and a magic user aren't the stealthiest things in history."

Kevin was insulted, but it made sense really, so he didn't object. The girls however, both broke into comments about how it was far too dangerous for him to fight 5 men alone and how they were as stealthy as a mountain cat in hunting season, but Hawk shook them off with a grin and vanished back into the jungle.

Kevin took this chance took make sure his friends were faring the humidity of the jungle well. Lise and Duran looked the way Kevin felt, hot and slightly tired, somehow, Angela, being possibly the worst dressed of all of them for these conditions, with her low cut blouse and short skirt, managed to pull of a regal grace. Kevin grumbled, it wasn't fair that she could do that, knowing her she was probably using the spirits for less than holy purposes. They said nothing, they were probably too tired and really there wasn't much to be said that hadn't been said before. The less they spoke, the less chance there was for a patrol to hear them.

Hawk returned no less than 10 minutes later, looking as calm as ever and pronounced that the way to Pedan was clear, beckoning them to follow as he picked a path through the trees, which soon gave way to the camp. It was inset against the remnants of an old wall, with the tents neatly against the wall and a campfire dead in the centre. Kevin's gaze however, was drawn by the sight of men in the camp and he immediately went into a defensive stance, Hawk couldn't have missed them, it was unlike him. Yet as he readied his first strike he saw the blood, slowly oozing from neat cuts in their necks. There had been no struggle, or at least it seemed that way and judging by the wounds the men hadn't even known what was killing them. Hawk had even propped them up against the walls to make things seem more normal. That man scared Kevin. To be able to do all of that and come back, calm as ever; a nightblade in every sense of the word.

Seeking not to continue gaping at Kevin like an idiot Kevin urged the group to press ahead, Pedan wasn't far now. Yet he couldn't help feel that all eyes were still on Hawk, including his own. Angela gave the man an appraising look, perhaps tinged with a bit of pride. Lise's look was dark, she'd never liked to see waste, human lives were too precious for that. Duran, well he was much like Kevin, Hawk did things his own way and they had to respect that.

Forcing his gaze away from the scene Kevin managed to find a path leading from the camp. They were fortunate, the attackers had made a trail through the jungle for them, the rest of the journey to Pedan would be easy, at least if there were no more guards and even then, they'd be spotted well before they would present any major problems. They would probably be inside Pedan by sunrise, Kevin was pleased, the guards would be changing then, and it would be easy to storm the remnants of the city.

And there it loomed, the mirage city. Well a town the size of Pedan couldn't normally loom, but in this case, loom was the only word by which to describe it. The city was a shell, burned out from the inside. There were bodies littering the gates, noone had been spared, there were women and children, burnt, desperately trying to get away. He'd seen towns burnt before, but never this. The people had always been allowed to escape or at least been taken prisoner. He thought his life had dulled his sadness over death, but this, this wanton disregard for life, it made him feel sick. Kevin could hear sobbing over his thoughts. Lise's face was buried in Hawk's shoulder whilst Angela and Duran tried to avert their gaze from the gates. Kevin could even feel a tear welling up in his eye, but he couldn't let them see, they needed him to be strong.

"Come on guys, we've got a job to do, these people haven't died in vain," Kevin tried to rally the party, walking to the main gate of the city. The mood had changed, it had been light hearted, relaxed even. This, this gave it meaning, innocent people had died and people who could commit such an act, didn't deserve a place in the Goddess's world.

Kevin stormed into the town with his friends in tow, bloodthirsty and ready to fight, only to find it completely empty. There wasn't a soul in sight. There was something wrong here, terribly, terribly wrong. Why had there been guards when there wasn't anyone in the city. It made no sense. Unless.

Kevin heard a scream, turned and the wave was upon him. Black clad men filling the streets. Kevin let go, his fists flew, breaking necks and cracking ribs wherever they landed. These guys weren't well trained, their sword stabs were slow and weak, nothing he couldn't handle really, it was just the sheer number that got in his way. Half the time he couldn't punch the person he was aiming for because another got in his way and the sheer force of them leaning on him was forcing him back, away from the others. A fireball here and flash of a blade there were the only things he managed to see. He was worried, Angela couldn't fight all that well and with mana as weak as it was she'd soon be reduced to using her staff. Yet there was nothing he could do, the mob just kept pushing him farther away, even after a Seiyouu Death Fist, their numbers didn't seem diminished.

Kevin was beginning to grow desperate, if things kept up, he'd never reach the end of this horde and while fighting on the fountain in the centre of the town, the wolf considered a method of escape. With a little luck he could probably fight to the wall and jump over it, he'd have to use a few of the vines but it was; the horde stopped in its tracks and sunk back into the shadows, seemingly disappearing. They might not know how to fight, but they knew Hawk's techniques like the back of their hand.

Kevin looked around, "Duran! Lise! Guys where are you?" his calls were met with no reply. He began to walk back the way he thought he had come, but as he turned he found the path blocked. It was the dark presence, Kevin could feel it. But this guy, he was just an ordinary man, admittedly an ordinary man cloaked in a material akin to what could only be described as pure darkness, but still ordinary. The man looked at him, with a sickening grin on his face, "I hope you like what I did at the gates, killing the children in front of their parents was most satisfying. It served its purpose really, you were far too angry to think properly, you just walked right into my arms. Rather silly of you in truth"

Kevin had heard enough, he'd seen these types of guys before. They thought too much of themselves, thought they were the smartest people in the world. Usually a good punch took them down a few notches and a punch while they were monologging was even better. Dashing forward, Kevin threw a punch with his right fist and as he did, the wind was knocked out of him and he was sent flying into a wall. Kevin tried to get up, but he couldn't move, that hit had taken everything out of him. He stared at the figure, "Forcena, Kevin, you will see our true power there. It simply wouldn't do to kill you now." And with that and a flash he was gone. Kevin turned a smile or at least attempted to, it was hard in his condition. The figure had just made a terrible mistake.

Writer's Rants:

Reviewer response: Fanfic says I have to use some stupid little tool to reply, well I say screw that, it's nice to see what other people think and so I'm keeping reviewer responses on my fic. If I get an angry email from then so be it.

EternalDreamzOfHope: The only review this chappy depressed. It's nice to know that there are people like me out there actually. Chrono trigger is totally badass, especially with all the great endings. Thanks for your support and keep reviewing.

Now to my actual rant: I had trouble writing this chapter, it was probably biology revision and world of warcraft which sucked my creative sense dry but it took a lot to get the ball rolling. The chapter might have been longer but I felt I was already stretching it so I'll just have to encompass it next chapter. Overall though, I'm pleased with the way this chapter panned out, it was a bit messy with new ideas coming to me as I went to sleep and me desperately fumbling in the dark to write them down, but I got the core of what I wanted down and developed the characters a bit more, which is always pleasant. With any luck the next chapter will be a lot more prompt so get ready for another update soon.

In other news, review or I will kill you with cheese. CHEESE! Honestly I need all the reviews I can get or I'll get all depressed and demoralised.


	13. Old Enemies

**Old Enemies**

Angela was annoyed and couldn't be bothered to hide it. A whole day spent walking through blasted, humid, hair frizzing jungle and for what? To get beaten on by a horde of shadow soldiers and to be told the enemy was heading to Forcena. Of all the bloody places in the world, they'd chosen the landlocked grassland country, which meant even more travelling after the ship. A queen shouldn't have to put up with this. Politics, well that was fun in comparison. Next time she'd be sure to bring a cook, a butler and at least half a dozen half-naked dancers. Well perhaps the dancers were a bit much, Hawk was more than good enough. What on earth had she been thinking all those years ago? Had she been so dense? Almost a year spent with a guy like that and she'd not flirted with him once. Well that was a lie, she had flirted with him, but she flirted with every good looking guy she met. Things hadn't gotten anywhere near serious until now.

Unfortunately her sortof boyfriend Hawk was in his cabins chilling out after the battle. Honestly Angela couldn't understand why he didn't want to "chill out" with her instead, it would've been infinitely preferable to just lying around in a small room. Still Angela had more important things to deal with than the Navarrian, her hair being a perfect example. It was going to take a lot of work to straighten it out and she was determined to deal with it before she had to present herself to the others. Walking across the deck Angela saw Duran and Lise talking near the stern. She couldn't really imagine a conversation between the two of them really. It wasn't that they were dull, far from it really, but they just seemed so reserved and proper. Well perhaps like people attracted.

Yet the deck seemed oddly quiet, Angela couldn't quite put her finger on it, there was just something wrong. It was then that she saw the captain; usually the man was pegging it about the ship like a lunatic threatening the crew with death or worse, yet now, the man was just standing at the bow, looking out over the horizon. A younger more naive Angela would've just thought there was some good reason for it, but oh no, life in the Altenan court had changed her. Approaching the captain from behind, she touched a hand on a shoulder, expecting the man to turn around. To her surprise he kept his gaze fixed on the horizon talking, seemingly to himself.

"15 years I've captained this ship. It hasn't been the most dangerous life, true, but we've had our storms and weathered them. And for what? So our families back homes, the people we really care about will be able to enjoy life. Sometimes you wonder why you do it but on days like this, it all seems so clear." The captain turned to her, slowly, his face a grim mask, "I'm sorry Angela," he paused, Angela opened her mouth, but was cut off, "they were going to kill our families." The ship's hull exploded. Angela's main concern was trying to shield herself from the shards of wood flying at her, however, she soon realised that she should be more concerned about the manner in which the length of wood she was holding on to was rapidly approaching the water. Of course what she really should've been worried about was the piece of wood that was about to land on her head.

* * *

Angela was fairly certain that she was dead. Everything in front of her was black and the last thing she remembered was sinking on a ship with no land in site. Death didn't seem that bad really, she felt the same, a few regrets over what could've been but otherwise not that awful. It was the ache in her head that made her realise that in fact she was, on the scale of one to dead, alive, her eyes were just closed. She winced when she tried to open them, it was bright and they hadn't adjusted to it. Slowly she turned to be greeted by a face that wasn't too unpleasant.

"Hawk? Where are we?"

"Well I looked around while you were asleep and I'm fairly certain I know where we are." Angela's eyes asked the question for her. "Volcano Island Bucca."

"Ooooh fuck"

* * *

Of all the bloody places in the world they'd ended up on the same damned island that they'd ended up on 7 years ago. Really, this was just stupid. She had hated it then and she hated it now. At least in the jungle of illusion the creatures had the politeness to be huge and visible, well that was because they had mutated into huge and monstrous things but at least they weren't smaller than your little finger. This place was home to bloody swarms of the most poisonous and evil bugs to have ever graced the planet. They were lucky mana was waning or she would've incinerated the lot of them without a second thought. Were it not for them she'd have gotten Hawk into a quite little corner by now and given him some of the attention he deserved for saving her life. Sadly for him he'd have to suffice with a kiss on the cheek.

Apparently the Navarrrian had seen smoke coming from a beach not far from them whilst scouting. Angela really doubted that the wreck had put the others out of action really. If it couldn't put her down then she really doubted it would be able to finish them off. And to her contentment they soon came upon the beach Hawk had been talking about, the campfire that he'd referred to and the friends they'd mentioned once or twice.

"Hawk! Angela! Thank the goddess! I thought I might never see you again," the Rolantian was over to them in a second giving them a bone crushing hug. Sometimes that girl was as cute as Carlie. Duran and Kevin just smiled at them; Duran rather glumly. It took a moment for Angela to realise exactly why. His armour, his sword and shield. They must have been too heavy, he'd lost the three most valuable possessions he had in that wreck. Angela's cane, thankfully had floated with her and cloth armour wasn't a heavy burden in the water. The archmage couldn't bring herself to leave him alone, abandoning Hawk for a bit she sat down next to Duran who was staring blankly into the fire.

"Don't worry about it Duran you'll get new weapons, they'll be even stronger than those old things."

"It's just that, those are what I killed the dragon emperor with, what I killed the person that brainwashed my father with. They showed me that no matter what the odds good would triumph over evil and now, they're at the bottom of the sea because of an enemy we've never seen. When I lost those things it just hit me, what if we're in too deep Angela, what if we can't win."

Angela rested her head on the paladin's shoulder. It was strange how someone so strong could be so insecure at the same time, endearing really. "It wasn't the weapons that killed the emperor Duran, it was you. You're, we're what symbolises the strength of good over evil. We didn't know that we could take down the dragon emperor when we fought him, he was meant to be unstoppable, but we beat him. Every single time we rose up to the challenge and won Duran. We won't lose, we never have." Angela felt like wincing, they had lost, once, fortunately Duran didn't bring it up even though Angela could tell he knew. And with that the paladin was once again on his feet. Sometimes all you needed was a little push in the right direction.

Angela returned to the others, joining mid conversation, "So how exactly are we going to get off this place?" The star lancer questioned, "It's not as if a ship's magically going to come to an abandoned island and take us off it."

"Well," Kevin said, evidently deeply in though, "Bookasukaboo disappeared just after we beat the God beasts right? And we know he used to live here, perhaps he went back to his old den or something, I mean the caves must have changed slightly but I'm sure they're still there. If we could find him, then he could probably get us off the island." Angela sighed, it was possibly the stupidest idea she'd ever heard.

"So let me get this straight, our survival is completely and utterly based upon a turtle who may not even live here any more, heck who may not even be alive, and we've got to find him in caves which have completely transformed the last time we're here." She had to admit it, she did enjoy proving Kevin wrong.

"At least the monsters won't be able to lay a hand on us," retorted the beastman.

"Actually Kevin, the monsters are vastly stronger now. You see these monsters are descended from ones which basically survived a volcano erupting on them and that can do a lot for the evolutionary cycle," added the nightblade, smiling as if he was somehow giving good news.

"Alright then!" Kevin's frustration was pretty evident, "Give me a better idea!" And that was the end of the conversation. As stupid and reckless as the idea was, it was the only glimmer of hope they had. They'd relied on luck before and they'd have to do it again. Still Angela didn't have to like it, chance was always too risky, and she spent the good part of the next half hour just trying to find faults with it. Prove her wrong would they? She'd show them.

Since their food supplies were relatively low, limited to a soggy ship's biscuit that Duran had left in his pocket, the group decided to set out into the jungle as quickly as possible. They were tired, true, but they'd gone longer like this and the fact was that they were only going to get weaker and weaker the longer they stayed here. But they soon found themselves struggling in the jungle. Hawk had been dead on, the creatures were a lot stronger and with her trying to conserve as much mana as possible, well a cockabird presented a lot more trouble than usual. Sometimes the things just refused to die, taking split image slices and death fist's in their stride. Half the bloody time she was just struggling to avoid being pincushioned by those blasted petrifeathers, she did not want a stone nose! Yet as slow as the process was, they were making progress. Really the enemies were only as tough as they had been the first time around. They just weren't used to creatures actually presenting a challenge anymore and this, in some twisted way, was actually refreshing.

Yet more problems arose as they attempted to find the entrance to the caves, if there even was one. It was times like these Angela wished she had Gnome over her shoulder, he was a complete wizard with problems like these. But try as they might the volcano was inaccessible, no a single entrance to be found and they wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

Finally the group came to a crippling halt, tired and demoralised. No one said anything it didn't feel like the time for idle banter.

"Hey Angela?" Lise was the first to speak, the silence had been pretty awkward really.

"Yes?" Angela replied, her patience slipping.

"You can cast earthquake right?"

That was the twig that broke Angela's back, "Of course I can bloody cast earthquake, what do you take me for some puny rank one sorceress who's only just learnt how to cast her first fireball. I mean really Lise that was one of the stupidest questions you've ever asked, I thought you were fucking intelligent as well!"

Yet Angela's barrage of insults didn't make the smile waver from the Amazon's face, "We know there are caves in the volcano they're everywhere, all we need is an entrance. Surely you could earthquake down a wall or something? That's all we'll need, wherever we show up, the caves will take us the rest of the way. The eruption will only have made them simpler."

Well, now Angela felt lousy and wanted to kick herself all at the same time. Had she become stupider as this trip had progressed or something? Attempting to silently maintain her dignity the archmage found a fairly vertical wall and took up a position a few meters away from it. Summoning up what little mana there was left in the air she focused her energy into as large an earthquake spell as possible. The ground shook violently and for a second Angela thought she'd put a little too much kick into the spell, but as it ended she noticed with some satisfaction that the wall she had previously been staring at had been replaced by a hole, leading into a cavern. Admittedly the hole was about 9 foot from the cavern floor, but the guys would help her down with no trouble. Turning around with a smile Angela noticed that her friends' faces seemed to be covered in a fresh layer of dirt and their flat looks at her told her she actually had put a little too much oomph into that earthquake. A smile and a quick apology were all she could offer in consolation.

The caves weren't as they remembered, instead of being a complex winding system there were far more large caverns separated from one another by thin walls, the volcano had probably shot up a lot of the rock that had been lodged there. It made them, as Lise had predicted, a lot easier to navigate and for the first time in all their quests it didn't seem like they were going around in circles. In fact despite a few angry potos who'd been disturbed in their sleep they encountered very little resistance or at least very little resistance that they hadn't already conquered before. Yet as they went deeper into the caves they encountered a slight problem. It was getting darker and darker and they rather unfortunately lacked a torch and frankly after using all that mana for an earthquake Angela was rather unwilling to conjure up a fireball in the near future when any torches they had would last for all of two minutes, torches of course being random bits of fairly dry wood they'd picked up off the jungle floor in case they needed to rest. Eventually the group had to resort to hand holding so that they wouldn't get separated. It was obvious that they were close to the overgrown turtle's lair but their pace was now painfully slow. And frankly Angela didn't have the patience for it, she wanted to get off this damned island so she could take a bath, have something to eat and then, if she felt like it, give Hawk the attention he so sorely deserved.

This was the point at which she realised that said boyfriend of hers was no longer holding onto her hand. Frantically waving her hand about, she started calling his name, alerting the rest of the group to the minor problem. Deciding that now a fireball really was necessary Angela illuminated the room, but the nightblade was nowhere to be found. "Hawk? Where are you? This isn't funny!" He did have a habit of vanishing into the shadows whenever he felt like it. But their shouts were to no avail, Hawk was gone.

Hawk had felt the darkness overcome him, dragging him away from his friends, yet he seemed to be unharmed, in a different chamber perhaps, but unharmed. He quickly adjusted to the extra light coming from a crack near the top of the chamber, seeing a figure standing in the darkness.

* * *

"Hello Hawk."

"No, we killed you, Lise took you down."

"Oh your little girlfriend did a very good job of putting a spear through me but you forgot one minor detail." Hawk didn't bother to respond, somehow he knew that he'd be told it anyway. "I'm a vampire. We don't die."

And with that a dark force was sent headlong at Hawk. Hawk managed to dodge, just, but an the ominous rumble at the back gave him a short warning before the explosion sent him sprawling. But there was no time for respite, immediately the vampire started casting yet another blasted dark force. This time however, Hawk was ready. He melded with the shadows and in the blink of an eye was behind the vampire furiously stabbing with his dirks. Rather annoyingly Jagan was as tough as he remembered, the piercing wounds in his back simply healing over instead of weakening the bastard. A swift backhand from the vampire who looked rather bored with his adversary sent Hawk flying again.

Hawk struggled up again at which point he noticed some glowing objects floating rapidly toward him. He'd seen this somewhere before, he knew it. But when realisation struck he wished it hadn't, ignorance would have been bliss. It was those damned ghosts, those flaming wretched ghosts. Hawk's body was battered by this small army of spirits pounding him deeper and deeper into the floor. He couldn't take much more of this. Yet as the ghosts stopped so did the seemingly relentless stream of attacks. Hawk wondered why it had stopped when he noticed the air around him. The mana being used was immense, probably the entirety of the mana in about a mile was being channelled around him. He'd remembered seeing the same thing around Lise all those years ago. Death spell, Jagan wanted to finish him now. But there was nothing he could do to stop him. In his current condition he'd never make it to Jagan in time. His arms burned as he tried to lift himself, he was panicking now. He was going to die. He didn't want to die. It was too early, he hadn't even settled down. Yet, he was helpless, he could feel the spell reaching its climax. There was only one thing to do. Embrace his fate and let the cold blessed silence overcome him.

Hawk's eyes widened, thrusting a hand into his pocket he drew his blow gun, and fired a volley of needles at Jagan, piercing his body left right and centre. The vampire smiled evilly and attempted to carry on with his spell, only to realise that he couldn't. Hawk used this lapse of concentration and the last reserve of energy he had into one final strike, forcing his limbs into motion he dashed forward at the quite literally speechless Jagan and leapt onto him, slashing and stabbing him in the face again and again. Backslashes blossomed into silhouette slices, deadly weapons smashed into the vampire's body. He rounded off the attack with a split image slice for good measure, before falling back exhausted. The wounds on the vampire had stopped healing themselves a while ago and now the fool looked as tired as Hawk felt. He glared at Hawk in indignation and fury before starting to approach him. Hawk knew his mistake, he shouldn't have let up, no matter how tired he felt and now he was going to pay.

"Hawk! Hawk! Where are you?" the sounds echoed through the chamber. Backup had finally arrived. He smiled at Jagan defiantly, the vampire was plainly unnerved by the possibility of dying twice, perhaps there was some sort of limit to the resurrections.

"You're very lucky Hawk, very lucky indeed," Jagan stepped back as if meaning to disappear into the shadows. Hawk interrupted his exit.

"Just one little question. Who brought you back?"

"Now that," he said with a smile, "is something you'll find out in good time little Hawkeye. That is, if you live long enough," retorted the vampire, disappearing into the shadows.

"Hawk! Please! We found Bookasukabo!"

The voices were closer now and tinged with a bit of panic. When they found Hawk's crumpled body on the floor, that was when real panic set in.

Writer's rants

Reviewer response: I'm glad to see that I got a few more reviews for this chappie, hopefully if I keep this up there'll be a whole lot more of you I need to respond to.

Mirowood: Thanks for the compliment, I can pretty much guarantee without giving too much of the plot away that the dude in black isn't Koren, but that's definitely the character type I was going for. Oh and really try to pick out flaws, the more you can the better I can get. And the newfangled system smells. And finally, review or I burn you with goats.

EternalDreamzofHope: Kevin was originally my favourite character in SD3, though now it's a toss up between him and Hawk I guess. I just thought a Kev chapter was appropriate there since he is the mana knight and it was his vision. And yay keep reviewing it keeps me moralised and actually makes me write.

Selenite Calonite: Wooo new reviewer alert! Does new reviewer dance I'm glad you're enjoying the fic so much. I reckon that I'm about a quarter to a third of the way through the story. There might be fewer chapters but they'll contain more than those initial intro chapters I did in terms of plot. I'm fairly certain that I'll top 25 chapters though. I intend to keep this going just to keep a grip on my English. As I said before, Magus would've made my life a lot easier in retrospect and as far as Hawk/Angie is concerned I think both Hawk/Angie and Hawk/Lise work as do Duran/Angie and Duran/Lise.

Yermog: Fine I'll kill you with bonbons then. Hawk and Angela aren't really having an affair since they aren't married to anyone else, it's more a quiet relationship. I mean it'd be pretty awkward for them to tell people who may have crushes on them that they're with each other. Especially when they'll be spending the next few months with them.

Witch Girl Pilar: Oooh two reviews. Ch 7 review, you may not like the next few chapters then . And Ch 9 review. You may not like the next few chapters then . But yeah, Angela's awesome, she's cool because she pushes guys around but in a non-aggressive way.

Actual rant: I really liked this chapter and the way it came out. It was fun to write and while it may be on the long side a lot of little undertones in the story seemed to place themselves really well. I might've been able to write the combat a little better but I haven't had much practice at that. It was also awesome to write and Angie chapter after such a long time and see how her character's evolved over this. I have to say I think I've been influenced pretty heavily by Sinnatious's _Another Witchmaker_ here, but heck with the job she's done that can't be a very bad thing. The entire bit before Angela's realisation of where she is was meant to be in the previous chapter, but I think it worked just as well here really. I could've had the previous chapter shorter or this one and I figured that it'd be nice to get all the Angie down in one bit. I considered leaving the Hawk bit off, but the ending was far more dramatic this way, plus it frees me up to write a chapter for whoever I want next. I hope you enjoyed it and with a little luck a new chapter will be up soon. Read and Review, if you don't you shall be drowned in jellybabies!


	14. Eyes

**Eyes**

Duran was sitting near the front of the tortoise, eying the horizon. The girls were still fawning over Hawk who was a bit weak after the healing. That stuff really did take it out of you. With wounds that bad, it'd be a few days till he would be back to his best, but it was silly for the girls to go on like this. Duran sighed, some men had all the luck. Duran frowned, the injuries weren't what worried him, he didn't know anyone who could leave the Navarrian like this. Were he younger he might have actually been scared.

Turning to look at the thief he was about to ask his question when his thoughts were echoed by Kevin. The beastman had been sitting on the back of the shell, frustrated because he couldn't control Bookasukaboo any longer, they had no idea where the creature was headed.

"Jagan," was the only word the nightblade uttered. The silence was enough of a response.

"But, he's dead," motioned Lise slowly, it was what they all must have been thinking, "I killed him, I ran one of my spears right through the middle of his heart, he fell down that pit, Hawk you saw it yourself, it can't have been Jagan."

"If it wasn't Jagan then it was his vampire twin, they must have found a way to bring him back. And," Hawk rubbed his head, "he was stronger, a lot stronger. The Jagan we fought 7 years ago would've been dead in a couple of seconds, this one, well you all saw what he did."

"What's even worse is that he knew everything. He knew we'd be on Bucca, he knew where we'd go, damnit he knew the exact cave we were in. Someone's playing us like fools. They're either psychic or they have spies in every major town, hell they probably have spies in every square mile of the countryside as well. This guy is toying with us and we're dancing to his tune like the good little puppets we are. If we keep going like this our luck's going to run out."

"So what do we do then? Ignore Forcena completely? It's not going to happen Hawk. We know this message about Forcena's a trap, the way I see it, if we know the trap's there we can spring it so nobody gets hurt. And even if we did ignore Forcena, where would we go? We don't have a single lead apart from that one and I'll be damned if I leave my country to be overrun by a horde of goddess knows what." Duran was fuming, how could Hawk even contemplate leaving Forcena alone to defend against this monstrous power?

"So let me get this straight, you're suggesting we actually walk into this trap willingly when we have no idea what it'll do or how it'll work? I thought they taught you about tactics in Forcena, or is that only for the people who don't run around bashing things with swords."

"Enough!" Kevin interrupted the argument, "How old are you two, eight? Hawk as true as what you say is, Duran's right, Forcena's our only lead, we've got to go there, and before you start arguing again, remember I'm the mana knight, I've talked to this 'mastermind' myself and what I say bloody goes. Let's focus on the task at hand," Kevin's voice trailed off, before picking up again suddenly, "or on the city I see in front of me."

"Byzel, you can make out the black market from here," muttered Hawk, evidently upset by the admonishing he'd just received. "I'm surprised Bookasukaboo would get so close to one in all honesty, but I'm not complaining, I couldn't have asked for a better place to land. I might be able to 'persuade' a few people to help us find out what this bastard's up to."

"Fine Hawk, go to the black market, the rest of us will hole up for the night," declared the Death Hand.

"I think you'll find that you're all coming with me," replied Hawk as if he had anticipated what Kevin was going to say. "The fact is," Hawk elaborated, "2 fairly muscular and hardy warriors along with the girls' feminine charms are going to be vastly more persuasive than a scrawny little thief, despite his reputation."

"Hawk?" said Angela all too sweetly, "Tell me, how are Lise and I meant to exact our feminine 'charms' on people when we haven't taken a bath in I dunno, a week?"

"By smiling sweetly and running a few fingers through your hair, I swear at the black market even in the state you're in, the two of you would be able to knock out any trader there, figuratively and literally." This of course led to a glare from Angela and a blush from Lise.

Of course as they spoke the lights of the city became brighter and the buildings clearer and without realising they found themselves on a beach not half a mile from the city. As they walked to the city the topic of conversation didn't change much, Angela still whining about not being able to shower and change and Hawk trying to sate the bloodthirsty woman. Duran had learnt a long time ago not to try that, Angela could be as relentless as a pack of dogs when it came down to her own comfort level or, rather annoyingly, politics.

Still, with a four to one vote going Hawk's way the queen was forced into abeyance, at least for now. Duran wasn't surprised with the vote, he was cool with the idea of seeming imposing and possibly busting heads, it would take out a little bit of the frustration he was feeling. Lise was Hawk's girl to the last really, she'd talked to Duran a fair bit lately but her eyes always seemed to wander back to the nightblade and Kevin, well he was almost exactly like Duran. Eventually, upon the realisation that whining wasn't getting her anywhere, she fell silent, surprisingly remaining at Hawk's side despite their little argument.

As always the black market in Byzel was bustling. It was hardly fair to call it a black market though, the mayor's office turned a blind eye to its existence and was rumoured to encourage it, it did after all help the city's economy, despite certain activities that went on inside. The party generally clung to Hawk around here, none of them were well known for criminal activities, well Angela might have been but unfortunately he hadn't been able to dig up any proof and the Navarrian knew this place like the back of his hand.

Of course within five minutes of entry into the black market Hawk was accosted by a horde of women. Evidently he was still a bit of a celebrity around these parts. Multiple women all clawing at him in a confined space, lucky bastard. Hawk however, looked a lot less pleased than he might be, as the girls assaulted him with wave upon wave of questions.

"Hawk, why haven't you visited in so long?"

"We heard you'd gone straight, is it true Hawk?"

"Hawk, have you learnt any more knife tricks? Show me Hawk"

"Hawk why'd you never come back? You said you'd write!"

"Ladies, ladies, please, there's only so much of me to go around," said the nearly buried Hawk. "Now I'm here on important business, once I get that done I'm sure we'll have time to catch up. But in response to your questions, I haven't been here because Navarre's been crazy lately, this money I took from Duran here's pocket shows that I haven't gone straight," Duran instinctively patted his trousers only to find, nothing, that blasted thief! "I have learnt more knife tricks but they all involve disembowelling of some sort, so I'd be reluctant to demonstrate them." Hawk wisely left the last question unanswered, avoiding awkwardness and the possibility of the girls beating the hell out of him at a later date, Angela and Lise included of course. He'd still have some explaining to do, Duran was pretty curious himself.

With that though, the groupies dispersed back into the market, Duran was certain one of them gave him a wink before she left, but unfortunately other more pressing matters were at hand.

"Sorry about that guys, I thought they'd have forgotten about me by now. Anyway, our first order of business is to meet the new owner of the place, with a little luck we should be able to divulge some useful information," Hawk turned a corner, "And there he is." Hawk's eyes went to a fairly tall man sitting on a throne in the middle of the market. He was probably about 40 years old, long jet black hair and a finely cut beard. His attire was more suited to a court than to a market. "He calls himself the king of thieves, fool; no real thief would ever call themselves a king." Hawk sounded pretty disgusted really, yet the next moment he was al smiles, rushing to greet the so-called king with every pleasantry imaginable.

"Jael my friend, how's trade going? As well as could be imagined I hope."

"Hawk, you're not one to be talking to me for the fun of it. You'd probably be chatting up one of the ladies were it not for business. Cut the crap, what do you want?"

"And I thought there was still time in the world for pleasantry among thieves. Jael, you know about why we're together, I'm sure. I need information. The guy who we've been fighting has had the edge on us this entire time, every single move we make, he knows about. We want to know exactly who is spying on us and where they're working from."

"I'm afraid I can't help you there Hawk, I have no idea of whom or what you're talking about."

"Jael, if you're going to lie, at least do it convincingly, the 'I have no idea' routine is so old. You know something, you're just hiding it."

"And I said I'm afraid I can't help you, unless of course you can offer," Hawk cut him off.

"Well I'm afraid that I'm going to have to do something rather drastic if you can't help me," Hawk drew a knife and began twirling it around his fingers, his intent was pretty clear.

"In the middle of my black market? Ha! You'd have holes poked through you if you even tried to raise a hand against me."

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that, but then I also know that you'd never harm little old me or any of my friends. It wouldn't be pleasant having an army or two trying to annihilate this place now would it?"

"Well uh," Jael hesitated, giving Hawk another opening.

"And when you think about it, if you don't give us the information we need, our respective countries could suddenly get very worked up over the idea of a criminal market operating pretty openly in a major city. Angie, Kevin, how long do you reckon it'd be before you could convince the mayor that the black market's overall influence was a negative one in the city?"

"Oh, that'd take us about an hour don't you think Kevin?" replied Angela.

"More like fifteen minutes Angie, considering that he'd have an angry werewolf speaking to him."

"Now I know you love your black market dearly Jael and I know you just want us to leave quietly and not damage your profits. So please give us the information we need and we'll be on our way."

The poor old man looked horrified, caught between a rock and a hard place, "Fine, fine, I'll tell you. From what I know there's a small hub of them operating from within Forcena, but that's all, these guys aren't ones you want to mess around with."

"Fits in with what we already know, I can't see any inconsistencies?" said Hawk, questioning the rest of them.

"This just seems a bit too convenient Hawk, we get told to go to Forcena and bang, we're told the enemies have spies there. He might be holding something back," replied Lise rather shockingly. Duran had never had her labelled as the most politically adept of them, but apparently, the girl could find a lie.

"Have you ever considered that this person knows how you think?" said Jael, disrupting their conversation, "I swear upon this black market that I've told you all I know, but truly if this person has played you as well as I hear, then he probably doesn't even need spies to do it."

Duran grimaced, even this idiot had hit upon the point they had earlier. "Well thankyou for your time Jael, let's hope our next meeting is under more pleasant circumstances."

Hawk turned away, prompting the rest of them to do the same. "There, we're done, now can we please go back to the inn and take a bath?" Angela looked ready to bite someone's head off.

"Angela, you don't come to a black market and not buy anything, well, steal anything, now if you'll excuse me there are some elemental coins that need my perusal. Meet back here in about half an hour; if Angie's so desperate for a wash I'm sure we can cut our 'shopping' time short."

Duran was away as quickly as possible before Angie decided that he was the best target for frustration elimination. Pretty soon he was lost in the wares of the black market. When he thought about it, he still needed a new sword and suit of armour, it was unlikely he'd find anything decent here but; Duran's eyes fell upon it, a sword near the top of one of the stands. Its quality in comparison to everything else was obvious. It was slightly longer than his old one, closer to a bastard sword than a long sword. Taking it off its shelf Duran inspected the metal and forgery. No where near as good as the brave blade, nothing could be, but still, a fine piece of equipment.

"How much for this sword?" Duran questioned the merchant.

"Ah, the Damascus blade, a very fine sword I acquired from a person who said he'd been to mirage to get it. Notice the fine carving on the hilt and scabbard. It seems to resemble a demon of some sort. I'm afraid I can't let a blade of this strength go for less than 10,000 luc."

Duran cursed under his breath. That was a good bargain for a sword of this make, but he didn't have it on him. "Look friend, if I was to get the money within fifteen minutes or so would you promise to keep this reserved until I got back?"

"Why of course sir, it wouldn't harm me in the slightest."

Duran dashed off, he had to find Hawk. The guy always had money to spare. Fortunately the thief wasn't hard to find, slinking around near one of the stalls with elemental coins on display. Duran clapped the thief on the back turning him around by the shoulder, "Hawk, I need 10,000 luc, there's a sword on sale that's easily worth it."

"Now Duran, I would lend you the money, I really would, but you still owe me 10,000 luc."

Duran stared at the thief incredulously. "How?"

"Remember when you borrowed from me for that suit of armour in Palo?"

"That was 1,000 luc."

"Yes well you never paid it back."

"How does 1,000 luc become 10,000."

"Interest."

"You never mentioned that before!"

"You never asked about it."

"Oh screw that."

"Sorry Duran, no more loans from the bank of Hawk until I get my capital.Duran walked off to find Lise who was more than happy to give him the money and laughed when he mentioned paying her back, let alone interest, she was definitely going to get one hell of a new year's present.

One sword payment later and Duran was back at the entrance to the market waiting for the others. Lise returned with some poto oils, Kevin, unsurprisingly with dreamsee herbs a plenty and Hawk appeared to have nothing, though Duran would bet his left arm that he had about 20,000 luc's worth of items he didn't have on him before. As Duran had expected, Angela had already headed off the inn without them, which he supposed was useful considering that it might've been fully booked by the time they got there, he was not in the mood for sleeping in a stable again.

Duran hefted up his sword as they walked out of the black market, it had been a good day.

"Ooh Duran, is that what you spent my money on?" The amazon clawed it away from him, "look at these carvings on the hilt," she touched the blade itself, "and the metal, you only find this stuff near craters in the earth. There's no way I'm letting you pay me back now."

A very good day indeed.

* * *

Hawk's day had been, profitable, to say the least. For a hub of criminal activities, the people in the black market didn't have much savvy regarding the lesser criminal arts. Hawk had considered erasing that old debt with Duran, but it was a nice little trump card to have. His body had stopped aching as well. He'd been healed, but that kicking at the hands of Jagan hadn't left him in the greatest condition.

Piling up his spoils into a lockbox that even he couldn't pick, Hawk placed it on a shelf near his bed. The room was quite spacious actually. He thought that they'd be relegated to much smaller ones, but apparently Angie had proven to be quite persuasive. Not only that, but they'd also had instant access to the baths upon arrival, not unpleasant considering the week they'd just had.

Leaving his room locked and looking a lot less dishevelled, Hawk walked down the corridor, passing Angie's room. The door was open and surprisingly the princess was still inside, they were meant to meet the others in the common room. Knocking on the inside of the door Hawk walked in, "Angie aren't you coming downstairs."

"I suppose we could go downstairs into that crowded common room with all our friends." Angela got up and approached him slowly, with that swaying walk of hers, goddess she looked hot. "Or we could stay up here, in my room, all alone."

Hawk closed the door behind him.

"But the others are expecting us."

"No they're not, you my little Hawk," Angela ran a hand through Hawks hair, resting it on the back of his head, "aren't feeling all that well and I just want to have an early night."

Hawk smiled, "But if I'm not feeling well, then who's going to look after me?"

Angela planted a light kiss on his lips, "We'll see."

A week now and they hadn't been able to do a thing, that led to a lot of pent up frustration. There was only one result, an explosion. Within seconds they were kissing frantically, Angie was like a demon, not relenting for a second, slowly drawing him back to the bed. Until he felt her legs touch it. His hands ran the length or her body, into her silky hair, there wasn't a flaw on her.

Suddenly, the kissing stopped, Hawk's eyes opened and stared into those beautiful emeralds, sparkling at him. But Angela's expression changed subtly, and there Hawk saw it, movement. Angela's mouth opened for a scream as Hawk dove underneath the stab. In the very same movement, Hawk drew a dagger from his trousers, throwing it instinctively. Angela's scream stopped as the would-be assassin, looked down at the dagger blossoming from just under his ribcage.

Angela's fear turned to rage within a second. With the man somehow still standing, despite a dagger through most of his internal organs, she pulled her staff from beside her bed. Hawk almost felt a sense of pity.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid bastard." Hawk winced as the sound of oak hitting face filled the room. "I had it all planned out, it was going to be perfect!" she hit him in the side, "I finally get a chance to relax with a guy I actually like and you fucking go and do this." Hawk doubted the assassin's own mother would recognise him now. He was sure Angie would've continued, were it not for the arrival of their friends upon the scene, catching her in mid swing.

"What happened?" the beastman asked, taking the lead as always, "and why are you beating on a corpse?" he smiled wryly; it was always fun to catch your friends in an awkward position.

"An assassin, he tried to kill me, fortunately Angie saw him and I managed to get a dagger in his chest," Hawk grimaced slightly, "sorry I killed him, it was just an unlucky throw." Lise and Duran looked at him slightly incredulously, but Kevin just nodded. The two of them tended to be on the same page most of the time and evidently the beast kingdom wasn't without its torture chambers.

"Nothing to do about it now, just get rid of the body, pay the innkeep not to say anything and get some rest. If there was more than one assassin they would have attacked at the same time, so I'll wager it's safe enough here. The worst thing we could do is get no sleep and wander off to Forcena asleep on our feet."

"Hawk, I've got a question," said the amazon who'd been quiet until just now as Kevin and Duran walked down the stairs, body in hand.

"Sure Lise, go ahead."

"What were you doing in Angela's room? I thought you were feeling ill." For a moment, just for a moment, he thought she looked hurt.

"Oh, Hawk just came in to borrow a brush from me," said Angela, making the save, any other girl would've panicked in her position, especially considering how close she was with Lise.

"Yeah, even if I'm not feeling great I can't have my hair looking messy now can I?" he said, giving the star lancer an innocent smile.

"Alright then, Hawk, want to head up to our rooms?" Lise's room was next door to his.

Hawk turned to Angie, no doubt she'd be upset if he left her now. "Angie, you're going to be alright?"

"Oh please Hawk, I'm a big girl, I can look after myself, now off with you, I need sleep." Angie glared at him, what had he done to deserve that?

"Alright then, good night!" he was met with no response. Women and their damned mood swings, one minute they were kissing you, the next they were slapping you silly.

Turning on his heel he walked down the corridor with Lise, who spoke, eyes still forward, almost as if to herself, "I wonder why somebody would want a brush when they were about to go to sleep and mess their hair up anyway."

Hawk looked at her, she couldn't know, there was no way. Lise glanced at him, smiled and proceeded to leave him all alone in the corridor.

Women, why did he bother?

Writer's Rants

Reviewer Responses

Don't use the reply function! Fight the power!

Selenite Calorine: I liked the Angie introspective myself, as I'm sure I've said I took inspiration from Another Witchmaker for it and I think it turned out quite well. I only realised the stuff about the positioning of Jagan after I finished writing the chapter, a nice coincidence, or I thought of it long before I wrote the chapter and forgot it was there. This chapter's central characters were Hawk and Duran! Usually I don't know which characters I'll do in advance, but I'm thinking Lise for next chapter since I'd like to do more with her. Oh and it probably will take about 2 years

HawkofNavarre: I've never inspired anyone before ticks box that's really quite an honour and I swear no matter how long it takes I will finish this. If I'm not updating don't lose hope.

Yermog: Well yes, then Hawk and Angie are having an affair. And thanks for your support despite my laziness.

Witch Girl Pilar: I'm glad you don't dislike the Hawk/Angie stuff and thanks for the review, it managed to kick me back into gear and made me start writing again.

Actual rant

YES! IT'S BACK! Finally I managed to kick myself and get everything in gear for this chapter. I made it longer to thank you all for your patience, and I plan for the following chapters to keep to this length if I can. Unless of course you felt it dragged on. This chapter was kinda what I needed, a nice quiet chilled out one (in comparison with 11) and it eased me back into the writing. Again apologies for the wait, I had AS exams, then after exam parties then work experience in the most boring place in history, so I couldn't write until all of those ended, too much messing with my writer sense and the chapter took me a bit longer than usual due to its length. With a little luck I'll get another one done by the end of summer (I always say something like this!) but I'm not promising anything. Seriously speaking guys, if I don't update, don't lose hope, I'm just taking my time because of life interfering in things. Anyway, review the story! Recommend it to friends! Any new reader through recommendations will get their recommender an invisible tasteless untouchable reese as will all reviewers!


	15. Spears, Bridges and Bandits

Pre Chapter Writer's Rants: It's hard to believe it's been 5 months since I've looked at this thing. I really don't know what to say. My life got pretty screwed up over the past few months what with relationship issues and World of Warcraft eating my soul when I got depressed afterwards. I'm out of touch with my writing so I hope you'll forgive me if this chapter isn't the best I've written.

* * *

**Spears, Bridges and Bandits**.

Lise enjoyed cool breeze against her. It was nearing midday and the heat was becoming oppressive. Her armour and carrying her spear around didn't really help matters. Lise supposed she should have got used to these conditions by now, after all her adventures, but she hadn't really seen frontline action since she'd become ruler of Rolante. All that pampering must've gotten to her.

They had been travelling up the Golden Road for a good few hours now and making quick progress. The road was finally near its original condition. The improvement work had been going for years now and while carts could move from Maia to Byzel fairly easily without the threat of monsters attacking, the completion of the golden road would make things a lot faster. Fortunately for them the road extended as far as the Cleft of the Earth, they'd be there within the next hour or so.

Unfortunately conversation seemed to have dried out. Kevin had opted to scout ahead as usual, she couldn't understand why; they were on a main thoroughfare. Duran, well, as noble, polite and handsome as the paladin was, he really didn't have all that much to say, their last conversation had simply involved them complaining about all the problems they were having in their respective countries. Admittedly it was an extensive topic when she thought about it. In fact when she thought about it harder, their conversation had lasted an incredibly long time. But talking about trouble at home really wasn't the best way to relax when you had the fate of the world resting on your shoulders, again.

Unfortunately for her Duran was the only person she could really speak to. Angela and Hawk were making slow progress again. Lise had been certain there was something going on between the two of them, with all their disappearing off together, their "lagging behind." Last night just proved her theory even further. Why else would Hawk have been in Angie's rooms. Lise looked back. It was a pain; she got on so well with Hawk. All her worries just seemed to melt away and despite her blushes she quite enjoyed his harmless flirting. The time just disappeared with him and now, now she was stuck alone, while Hawk was with her best friend, her beautiful, confident best friend. Lise felt like slapping herself. This is what she had wanted. She didn't want to be distracted by a man. She had her people an entire country counting on her and if she let any man take her focus for a second then she was failing all of them.

He had such a great smile. Lise felt like screaming. She was right, she had to be right. Her people depended on her, she couldn't let herself be diverted, she wouldn't let herself be diverted. And yet in the back of her mind it was all she could think about. Her best friend and Hawk. Her heart sunk. She couldn't be jealous of Angie, it wasn't right. She deserved happiness as much as Lise did herself and if it was with Hawk then who was Lise to stop her? Yet all the rationalising in the world seemed to do nothing. Lise kicked a stone. Why couldn't she be as calm about it as she had been talking to Hawk the night before. She had known what was going on then. Why hadn't it affected her then? Lise squeezed her eyes tightly shut as if refocusing her vision would refocus her thoughts.

The only thing it succeeded in was causing her to trip over a loose stone and land flat on her face.

Lise saw feet before her eyes and found herself being hoisted up. Half of her wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from the embarrassment, the other half just wanted to pretend nothing had happened and a small voice in the back of her mind silently prayed that it was Hawk lifting her up.

Lise found herself blue eye to brown eye, with Duran, who was smiling at her for some reason she couldn't discern.

"Careful Lise, someone cut construction costs here and we can't let their mistake harm your beautiful skin." The paladin grinned even more before turning around and waiting for her.

Lise's lips moved but her brain wasn't functioning. Had Duran just tried to flirt with her? Duran? With her? With her? It may have been the worst line she had heard despite the droves of idiot a blue eyed blonde such as herself attracted, but from Duran? That couldn't be possible. And yet there he was in front of her, dutifully waiting for her to take her place at his side. What on earth had possessed the man, he'd never even looked at her before today and now bar fly level flirting? Was it the lack of anything better to do? Why?

Now while Lise's brain was slowly collapsing on the inside her body went on autopilot, steadily walking forward and then maintaining pace with Duran. It took Lise a few seconds to realise what was going on. What was she doing? She didn't want to lead Duran on yet she kept walking forward right next to him for lack of a better idea.

"So Lise, how's life in Rolante been, aside from all the work?" inquired the paladin.

Lise chuckled as she seized hold of her thoughts, "You imply that there's a life outside my work in Rolante." Taking the his comment more seriously Lise looked up to the sky, "Things haven't been all that great to be honest, Eliza's marriage was a high point to be sure, I'm really happy for her, but it just reminded me of how much I've been missing out on, swept up in my responsibilities as head of state."

Duran chuckled, "I've been caught up in all that boring stuff as well." He sighed. "Things were so much simpler when we just went in, bashed monsters, killed their overlord and left with a sense of well being. Now it's like I've been caught in a time warp. The same routine day after day. Wake up, sign forms, have another one of my ambassadors seduced by Angela." Duran took a second to look back at the queen before turning his eyes back to the road, "What's even worse is that it's desensitising me to everything that's going on around me. I missed Wendy's birthday this year. I hadn't even realised how much she's grown over these past years."

Lise nodded, she'd barely been able to give Elliot the attention he needed. She supposed she was just lucky. All that time in captivity had toughened the boy, yet he'd lost the cruel streak he had as well. Even without her watching over him he'd turned out to be quite a compassionate, strong, young man. It dawned on Lise that she'd never before thought about how much he'd changed, had she really become out of touch?

"Imagine my surprise when she brought a boy home for the first time. My jaw was on the floor. Though," he said with a wry grin, "I think the boy was vastly more worried than I was. It's not often that you have the threat of a Mana Knight throwing you out the window hanging over your head." Duran hesitated, trying to lose eye contact. Someone had evidently forgotten his duties as a paladin. "Not that I'd ever do that of course."

Lise stifled a laugh at the paladin's expense. "I guess I should count myself lucky. As handsome as little Elliot's become it's pretty hard to find companionship when the girls you're with are as strong as you. Though," Lise said thoughtfully, "there was that time I caught him in the kitchens. That little temptress got a damn earful."

"I'd hate to be Elliot, at least Wendy's boyfriends only get threatening stares."

"Oh, I really don't think it discouraged her that much."

"What makes you say that?"

"A week later I caught them in the armoury." Lise let out a laugh, "She was out of there like a shot."

"I don't envy that boy one bit."

"He could do so much better, strong fighter, smart and a prince to top that all off; he could have any girl he wanted."

"Lise you're so naïve," Duran chuckled.

"It's true!" she said, shooting him a glare.

"Royals have a lot more trouble with love than normal people."

Of course he had her there; from her own experience being a royal really did take its toll on relationships. "Princes don't count!" she exclaimed, but she knew it was a feeble argument.

"Even so, having an older sister who could single handedly level the entire castle does pose its problems."

Lise smiled in defeat, she herself had been banking on the very same point to for a long time, "Point taken, maybe Elliot doesn't have things as easy as a regular guy."

"I don't think any of us do."

Lise looked at Duran with an eyebrow raised, this really wasn't the Duran she remembered, "That's a bit downbeat."

Duran smiled weakly, "But it's true, because of our reputations it's hard for anyone to value us for who we really are. If I gave it time I'm sure there'd be a few people who wanted me, but really, all they'd be after is Duran, Mana Knight,Kking of Forcena, they wouldn't want me for just regular old Duran, the Duran who was there before any of this ever happened.

Lise nodded soberly, "Queues of suitors, but they just don't see past the glory of being heir to the throne of Rolante. Half of those bastards would probably kill Elliot if they could."

"At least I don't have to worry about that." Duran smirked.

"Oh no, but you do have to worry about all the assassins that would want to kill you to cause unrest in your country," Lise retorted.

"Lise, it's a lot harder to kill a battle hardened paladin who's taken down one of the greatest threats to the world than it is a boy who's barely learnt how to use a spear yet," Duran said, grinning as if he'd won another battle.

"It's also a lot easier to kidnap a young girl with no battle experience and hold her to ransom than it is a boy trained to fight from the cradle," Lise flicked her ponytail behind her head as if to emphasize her victory.

"That may be true, but let's look at the details here Lise." Duran seemed to puff up as he spoke, "Number of times Wendy has been kidnapped, zero." He raised his left hand in a fist, "Number of times Elliot has been kidnapped, one." He raised a single finger on his right hand, "Now while your theory might make sense, you don't really have evidence to back yourself up now do you?" Duran laughed, his masterstroke complete.

"Elliot's vastly more mature now, captivity toughened him up," Lise said rather too quickly for her liking, but she didn't want to stand around thinking up a decent response for too long.

"Once again Lise, the evidence: zero to one."

"But that's not a valid,"

Duran interrupted, "Zero to one."

Brilliant, not only had she been argued into a corner by a childish diatribe, now Duran was gloating about it. She wanted to kick him in the shin for being so infuriating.

When she thought about it, the man certainly had changed a lot over these 7 years. He was a lot shrewder; he knew how to turn his weaknesses in his favour, far flung from the bullish, headstrong boy she'd met those years ago. In fact, far flung from the rather boring person she'd envisioned him as during this trip. But why had he opened out to her now, so suddenly? He was probably just trying to impress her, Lise knew that, his flirting was possibly the most obvious thing in the world, but she couldn't help but be curious, was this the real Duran or just another mask?

Unfortunately her current situation prevented further investigation. "At least I didn't cry over losing a sword," she countered acidly.

Duran looked at her appraisingly for a second and thoughtfully the next, "That sword was a symbol of good's triumph over evil, of me saving my father." Lise immediately felt guilty, "Or at least, that's what I thought it was. You're right though, it was a foolish thing to be upset about. A sword's a sword; we're the symbols not rusty weapons."

Lise was fairly shocked by his response, perhaps this calm demeanour wasn't just a mask he put up. "I guess you're right, but still, that Brave Blade was incredibly strong, it's a shame to see a sword like that go."

"I guess so, but then again, contrary to what I just said, that sword will never rust. Perhaps someday another person will find it and it'll give them the hope and power it gave me."

Lise still had trouble comprehending all of this. Duran really had changed, apparently that rather nasty comment, which she felt rather bad about now, had served to confirm her suspicions. "That's rather profound. I always thought that you saw yourself as a simple minded fighter"

"Trying to negotiate with Angela tends to change your view of the world. There's no room for a simple minded fighter in politics. He'd be eaten alive," Duran smiled and whispered half to himself, "I almost was."

"Politics changes people faster than I thought," Lise mused.

"Sometimes I wish it didn't, sometimes I want to be that headstrong fool I was before. But then I remember what such arrogance cost us." Duran looked away solemnly, Lise felt Duran's pain, "she was like a sister to me and because I let my guard down she died."

Lise patted the paladin on the back, "You can't keep blaming yourself for it you know. It'll destroy you."

"As long as it reminds me of my failings I don't care." There was a fiery determination in Duran's eyes now, "That's what drives me now. Carlie gave her life saving our world and now someone has the audacity to dishonour her memory and I won't stand for it."

"Just don't lose yourself Duran; you could forget yourself in all that emotion." Lise said warningly keeping a firm grip on the paladin's shoulder.

"Oh don't worry; keeping hold of your emotions is what being a paladin is all about."

"I thought it was boundless compassion for others." Lise remarked.

"Not really, that's more for those prissy Lords," Duran drew his new sword, "Why use the light to heal more when it's such a powerful weapon."

"Men and their swords." Lise sighed before glancing back at Duran, "If someone was a Lord right now we might not be so reliant on magical chocolate. It's your fault that I'm going to gain weight on this trip!"

Duran laughed, "I doubt it's that that's the problem, more the round drops you seem to like so much."

Lise smiled a sweet smile at Duran, "You know," she said as calmly as possible, "you're meant to say that I've lost weight and look better than ever," before slapping him upside the head with the hand she'd been resting on his shoulder.

Of course her luck meant that this was the scene that greeted a returning Kevin,

Kevin smiled his razor sharp smile, "Lise, what have I told you about battering our party members. I know he's a fool but he does have his uses.

"It isn't what you think!" Lise blurted out.

Kevin merely continued with what he was saying, "Besides the Cleft of the Earth is just ahead and we need to gather up again in case of traps. The last I heard bandits were using it as a staging post for ambushes on the road."

"Wouldn't the dwarfs object to that? Besides I haven't been told of bandits operating in the area and half of the cleft is under my jurisdiction," said Duran pointedly.

"Yes, well you have been fairly occupied with your negotiations with Altena. Perhaps someone's not been telling you to avoid being punished until the problem is resolved."

Duran grimaced, "Well that someone is going to be in Goddess knows how much trouble when I get back."

"And the dwarfs have been pretty quiet," continued Kevin, "ever since they helped us nobody's heard a peep out of them."

"Ah, now I had heard of that, but I just thought it was a baseless rumour, dwarven crafting material's been making it out of there just fine."

"Well that's a little mystery we've been trying to understand," said a confident voice. Hawk had at some point appeared behind them with Angela and apparently had listened in to their entire conversation. Somehow Lise just for a few minutes had managed to forget the man existed, of course hearing his voice made that job a lot harder. "Being a thieves' guild," the nightblade elaborated, "black market dealings are one of our many interests. How dwarf weaponry and items have been making it into the market without any official deliveries or any dealings on the black market is concerning to say the least, since it cuts into our profits significantly."

"And what exactly have you found out then?" Lise questioned.

Hawk looked rather embarrassed with himself, "Frankly, not much. We haven't even been able to pinpoint the people they're selling their stuff to, one day the equipment just appears on the market as if by magic."

Kevin cut off Hawk before he continued on his little tangent, "The moral of the story being, keep on your guard for ambushes. We don't know what's going on inside that place. Besides, it's only a short walk; it's not as if we're going to fight the Jewel Eater or anything."

The steady pace they'd been maintaining the whole time had, by now, taken them all the way to the cleft. "For a monster that only shows up once every 1000 years that Jewel Eater was pretty weak," Hawk commented as they entered the darkness, "It was just damn inconvenient to find."

"Well that was fairly lucky for us considering how weak we were then, I could barely cast holy ball," replied Angela. "Incidentally guys we don't have a lantern do we? I'd rather not waste mana lighting the path if I could avoid it."

Lise turned to rummage through her small pack, but, in the time it had taken her to turn Hawk already had his out. What was surprising was when the torch lit immediately of its own accord.

"Jutsus use so little mana that it hardly matters and it's vastly more convenient than rummaging through my pockets trying to find some flint and tinder," Hawk commented to sate the Altenan princess who surely would've gone on a rant about how they were meant to preserve the remnants of mana under all circumstances.

"It's still a waste," she muttered, "would getting out the flint have been that hard?"

"In the pitch black, when I'm not sure I've even got the stuff on my person, yes," he answered, giving a wry smile at the Archmage.

A sigh from the darkness was all that came in response.

"You know, for all you argued about that torch, I think the entire debacle was pretty redundant," said Kevin from the front.

"Why do you say that?" asked Lise turning back to the beastman.

"Well, for one we're right near the exit and as a second point, there seems to be a fair few torches over there as well as flint, tinder and a sizeable number of weapons," said Kevin nodding at an alcove in the cave wall.

"But if the weapons are there, then where are the bandits?" asked Duran.

Lise had reached the opening on the other side of the cleft. She looked out into the chasm and then onto the bridge. "Apparently, waiting for us."

At least 20 men in ragtag dress were on the bridge, rallied around a person in a cloak that she couldn't recognise. Lise scrambled out onto the path leading down the chasm to get a better look as her friends poured out of the opening. If they hadn't seen the Lise then they had seen her by now and arranged themselves in a defensive position, quicker and more efficiently than their motley dress would have suggested. Still Lise wasn't intimidated and neither were her friends. Knowing that surprise wasn't on their side they simply lined up along the bridge. Hawk Kevin and herself in the frontline and Duran and Angela behind.

Duran standing behind them didn't really suit the paladin, but they had agreed amongst themselves that as the only healer now it was vital that he didn't get hurt too badly whilst casting the few heals the mana left in the area would allow.

"Good to see you again my friends," the cloaked figure removed his hood, revealing a pale face with blood red eyes. Jagan laughed at them, "And Hawk, I'm glad to see you back on your feet; I'd rather you die at my feet than while I was away."

"Jagan, don't you ever learn your lesson? I pushed you to the edge and you expect to be able to beat all five of us at the same time?" Hawk said confidently, twirling one of his daggers around his fingers.

"You were lucky nightblade, next time I won't be so careless and besides you're ignoring my friends here." Jagan turned, clapping one of them on the back, "Extraordinary bandits these guys, avoiding the clutches of Maia, Byzel and a few lazy peons from Forcena all whilst making quite a profit it seems." Jagan held out a couple of golden coins before letting them drop to the wooden floor.

"Still they're nothing but bandits, any one of us could clear them all up at the same time," remarked Angela, "hell I could do it right now if you wanted me to."

"That is very true; normally these guys wouldn't be a match for you. Of course, strengthened with dark magic, in perfect sync because of mind control and with mana waning they might prove more of a challenge." Jagan smiled, "And now I think it's time for you to die."

The bandits wasted little time in their attack, darting across the bridge at a pace that could rival even Hawk.

"This time you'll stay dead!" shouted Lise before charging headlong into the fray along with Hawk and Kevin, spear whirling above her head. Swinging at the nearest bandit, Lise found to her dismay that he dodged with incredible ease, darting backwards as one of his comrades launched a silver dart at her. Batting the projectile away with her polearm, Lise was greeted by a hand axe grazing her leg.

Forcing down the pain Lise attacked the nearest bandit, stabbing at him angrily. Somehow the bandit managed to contort himself in such a way that the spear slid past him, before punching at her chest. Lise shifted her spear upwards into his shoulder pushing his punch astray, whilst taking a quick look behind her. She was greeted by the sight of yet more bandits throwing their great assortment of projectiles at her.

Lise stepped forward, releasing her spear and grabbing the bandit. Using his own weight against him, Lise flipped him over her shoulder as he ineffectively pummelled her on the back. Sadly for the bandit, as he was tossed he was met by 2 silver darts and a hand axe to the back, which he promptly landed on. The last hand axe however, met her left arm. Lise screamed in anguish as the blade dug into her flesh and again attempted to suppress it.

Despite the utter agony Lise hefted her spear up and promptly rushed the projectile throwing menaces standing on the edge of the bridge. It, by now had occurred to Lise that these guys were too fast for her conventional methods of attack. Instead Lise launched her spear into the air, catching it over arm and hurled it at their perch. The bridge itself shook as her spear hit the wood. Caught off guard one of the bandits lost his balance, falling into the abyss, but his three comrades were more startled than anything else.

Of course Lise was in trouble now, injured and lacking weapons against such powerful enemies. But at that point three Hawks appeared in front of her, reaping the benefits of the surprise that had taken her foes. The bandits tried to respond stabbing forward with their hand weapons, but they just passed straight though the Hawks, who promptly responded by knocking them off the bridge.

Lise dove forward as the Hawks disappeared trying desperately to yank her spear from the wood it was embedded in. Bracing her feet against the railing it finally gave way and she staggered back, turning only to find herself face to face with Jagan who cast a dark force straight at her. Lise threw herself to the right as the spears of darkness smashed through the bridge and turned to see Jagan readying himself for a repeat performance. Prone on the ground, there was little she could do to stop the attack now and summoning Marduke would simply annihilate the bridge. Lise braced herself for the worst only to find a swarm of needles embed themselves into the vampire's throat and Hawk at her side.

"My hero," she said rather sarcastically as they stared at the irate vampire trying to remove the needles from his throat. She quickly glanced at her comrades who were still contending with a good 10 bandits.

"No beautiful lady will come to harm under my watchful eye. Or very much harm," he said, glancing at her arm.

Lise in spite of the angry monstrosity in front of her and the blood oozing from her wound laughed, "Just like old times then."

"Except this time he's not coming back," replied Hawk, grinning like an idiot.

"I think that can be arranged. Speed up!" Summoning Jinn's strength for the first time in years, she felt the enhancement magic course through her veins and watched as Hawk flew at Jagan. He seemed to blur with his speed as he slashed and stabbed at the vampire who was having as much trouble as Lise keeping up with the nightblade. Frustratingly, while Hawk was landing quite a few successful hits on the red eyed horror, they didn't seem to be doing all that much damage. Lise this time felt Salamando's power well up in her, but as she was about to finish her spell she felt it, almost slip out of her grasp and die.

"Hawk!" she screamed, there's no mana left!

"Then," Hawk paused as his dagger sunk into the vampire again, "just attack!"

Lise cursed herself for letting her shock render her clueless. Without any delay she dashed to the vampire, feeling the very winds themselves increasing her speed.

Jagan's hands had been full with Hawk alone, now with two mana knights battering him he didn't stand a chance, or so she thought. Despite their flurry Jagan started edging forward. The two of them walked steadily backwards with him to sustain their assault. And yet somehow, against all odds it seemed, Jagan managed to backhand Hawk, sending him sprawling back to the Cleft side of the bridge where their three friends were attempting to polish off the bandits. But Lise used the opportunity to her advantage; Jagan had left his chest open. Taking what might be the only chance she had Lise drove her spear deep into Jagan's chest, smashing through his ribcage and impaling him on the spot.

The vampire dropped to his knees. "So Jagan, any last words?" Lise smiled sickeningly sweetly.

Yet, for some reason the vampire smiled back, "Two," his hand raised rightwards, palm facing a bandit who'd suddenly appeared on the other edge of the bridge. "Dark force," Jagan's hands glowed as spears of darkness began to appear. Lise watched, in utter horror. It wasn't possible, there was no mana left.

"He's going for the bridge!"

Lise's world exploded into flame.

* * *

Writer's rants

Response to reviewers:

HawkofNavarre: It's sad that you're not writing your own fic, but seeing how similar mine is to that of Sinnatious, I can empathize with your reasons for not doing so. I also thanks to Sinn, like Hawk/Angie, but then I also like Hawk/Lise Thanks for continuing your reviews, I shall keep writing!

…: Glad to be back! And frankly, most relationships end up being like that, plus suspense rules.

Cleopatra Antoinette: I hoped my Angie sounded on and I felt that line was perfection. As far as your question, so far, the story hasn't elaborated on a way of returning mana, so long painful deaths might be a staple.

Witch Girl Pilar: Aaah I love how fans remain loyal to their ideal pairings. I'm still trying to keep whether I'll disappoint you or not a secret. Who knows, you might even be right! And I really tried to update quickly, but yeah, all I can do is apologise.

Real rant

For the people that read this, thanks for sticking with me. During the writing of the chapter I received word that I'd been rejected by Cambridge. I just hope that didn't affect my writing. I tried to increase the detail in the chapter and I think it came out pretty well in the end. I was really enjoying the writing the final part, that last line drove me. Also, I'm aware that I'm an utter bastard for the cliff-hanger so feel free to beat me to death or something. I'm seriously going to try to make updates more regular now since all I have to do is get grades I've already half earned. Finally my email has changed, though fanfiction hasn't recorded it, it is now As always, please recommend the fic to any people you know and as always review for massive prizes!

P.S A shoutout to Sinnatious who finally finished Another Witchmaker after 4 years of hard work. The ending is utter brilliance. Thankyou for such an entertaining and genuinely funny story. Hell you even convinced an idiot who dropped English at the age of 16 to give it another chance and keep writing (That would be me). You're an inspiration to us all.


	16. Growing Darkness

Growing Darkness

His ears ringing, Hawk tossed his cloak aside eyes scanning the remains of the bridge. The cloak while not fireproof had still protected him from any real harm, but he wasn't worried about his own well being at the moment. Hawk scrabbled down the cliff hoping his luck might change, his gaze constantly shifting left and right. It shouldn't have been this hard to find her, not with his training. He could quite literally find a needle in a haystack, why couldn't he find her? There was only one explanation, but Hawk preferred the idea that he was getting weaker over that. The nightblade kept up his blazing pace through the rubble and was surprised when he bumped into Kevin. A quick scan around, and he realised that all the others were here. Hawk quickly moved so that they would cover a wider area, but Lise couldn't have been blown this far away. There was no way. And if they hadn't found her already; Hawk scrambled to slightly higher ground. She couldn't be dead. She didn't deserve it, she was too strong to have been killed like that, by some freakish bastard of a vampire that they'd already destroyed once. She hadn't even said goodbye. Lise wouldn't die like that; she was far too polite to go without saying goodbye. Someone who meant so much to him couldn't die. He'd said that about Carlie as well, but this was different, this was Lise. She wasn't an inexperienced teenager. She was the general of one of the most powerful armies to have ever existed and blindingly beautiful to boot. Hawk prayed to the goddess, begged to her for a sign, and then he saw it, gold, shining under the sun from beneath a plank of wood.

"Lise!" Hawk screamed as he slid down next to the plank. The length of wood covered virtually her entire body. Only her hair and legs were free. Hawk tried to move it but it refused to budge. Putting the full weight of his body behind the board he tried again, but his strength was failing him. Hawk cried out in frustration. He wasn't going to let that stupid fucking vampire win. In utter agony, Hawk drew his daggers and furiously stabbed the piece of bridge between him and his beautiful amazon. Chunks of wood flew apart and were torn away as his assault became more and more frenzied, until eventually, with one last furious slash the remaining piece of wood shattered.

The rage drained from Hawk's body as he saw what was beneath. The entire right half of the breathtaking face he knew was burned, her right eye swollen shut. Blood oozed from splinter wounds scattered across her body. The chunk of wood had crushed her ribcage, every breath seemed laborious. How she had survived the explosion was a miracle, the fact that she was still breathing after a minute even more so. Her left hand still clung tightly onto the shaft of her spear. He knew it was magical, imbued with unknown powers lost to time, but now it seemed that it was the only thing keeping her alive. "Lise," Hawk cradled her broken body in his arms. He didn't notice the teardrop that slowly descended down his face as he hugged the battered amazon.

"Hugging her isn't going to do anything Hawk, get off her and actually try to help." Hawk turned to see Angela along with Kevin looking over his shoulder. "All we need to do is feed her some of this stuff," Angela drew one of Altena's famous honey flavoured healing potions, "and she'll be good as new."

"Angela, now is neither the time nor the place for your wisecracking know it all attitude. In the time you were saying that I would've taken the stuff of you and fed it to her, if that were going to do any good." Hawk moved away from Lise, displaying fully the true horror of the explosion, "But even trying to drink that will choke her before it heals her." Angela began to open her mouth again, "And don't even think of trying with poto oils. She'll die if she drinks the stuff and her burns are too bad to rub it in."

The archmage glared at him, "What I was going to suggest, my dear Hawk, is that we find Duran then, he's the only person who can help her now. Or is that too stupid a suggestion for you to take seriously?"

Hawk glanced back at Lise, Hawk, wanted to shout at her, why was Angela was doing this when the star lancer was hardly breathing? He came close, barely restraining his anger behind gritted teeth, "Then tell me something my beautiful Altenan queen, if you're suggestion is so valid, then why are you attempting to get the one up on me instead of bloody following your own advice?" To that extent Hawk's eyes started wandering, but his search for the paladin did not go well since he was rooted to Lise. The amazon's breathing was slowing, she wasn't going to hold on for much longer. What he did notice was the absence of the Death Hand who'd been standing next to Angela a few seconds ago. Hawk looked back at Angela slightly confused, "Angie, where's Kevin?" he asked, embarrassment filling him for having to ask such a ridiculous question, no doubt Angie would pick up on it and rip him to shreds over not being observant enough.

Instead however, Angela's head turned at his question as she scanned the surrounding area for herself, "You know I have no," Angela paused mid sentence, her eyes lit up, as for the first time since they'd arrived at the bridge she cracked a slightly smile. "Hawk, turn around."

Hawk already had a pretty good idea of what he'd see and was only glad that he didn't turn to find Jagan with another horde of psychopathic bandits. There stood Kevin, with Duran in tow. Hawk would've laughed in any other situation, but this was different. "It took you long enough where were you?"

"It would've taken longer if I hadn't actually done something while the two of you were having your little argument," Kevin retorted, "now get out the way so we can actually save the poor girl."

Hawk would have moved, were he not so worried about hurting Lise by putting her back on the ground. Instead, he lifted her cautiously, turned and sat back down, facing Duran. The paladin got straight to work, sitting down opposite him and taking hold of Lise's uninjured arm. Duran had told him long ago that he always found healing to be a lot easier if he was in physical contact with his subject. Apparently it helped him to focus, allowed him to sense the weak spots. Looking at her, the entire right half of her body seemed to be a weak spot at the moment. Even with Duran's considerable power, it would be a strain.

Hawk cursed under his breath, if Carlie were here they wouldn't have a problem, it was enough that she had died, but this, this was like rubbing salt in the wounds. He should never have been hit by the cheap shot from Jagan, he should've taken that damn vampire's head off. How could he have been so careless? Another one of his friends might die because he couldn't protect them, because he didn't protect Carlie and because he was a damn sorry excuse for a master of assassination.

Hawk tried to refocus himself, wallowing in self pity about his own failings wasn't doing Lise any good, whilst he had been whispering encouragement at the blonde all the time, she needed all of him, not just his words.

"Heal Light!" Hawk was ripped from his thoughts by the shout from Duran, but he couldn't see the usual cool blue glow that wrapped around people as they were healed, Hawk looked to a confused Duran. "Heal light!" The shout echoed through the canyon again, but again there was no effect.

"I can't do it," Hawk stared at Duran, his look one of horror and anger.

"What do you mean you can't do it? You've done this thousands of times before and now, when it really matters you can't? What kind of paladin are you?" Hawk knew how harsh he was being on Duran, but now wasn't the damn time to not be able to cast a heal light. "We're going to fucking lose her, if you can't heal her now!" Hawk was yelling and he had every damn right to, Lise's chest had stopped moving, he couldn't feel her breath.

"I can't do it because there's no mana left here, we used it all up!" Duran shouted back at him.

"Then bloody find some mana from somewhere else then!" Hawk angrily yelled back.

"Stop this damn shouting now or I'll beat both of you senseless," muttered Kevin whose face was an iron mask.

"I can't help being annoyed if a paladin can't use heal light properly," Hawk replied curtly.

"Oh come on Hawk, you act as if you're helping by being a bastard," interrupted Angela who had thus far been quietly watching on.

"Says the Queen of manipulation and trickery, at least I'm honest when I pissed off with a person not being able to cast a basic spell."

"I'm trying!" Duran continued to shout despite Kevin's persistent threats.

It was then Hawk realised he couldn't feel Lise's pulse, "Try harder!"

"I can't!" Duran stammered in frustration and despair, "I just ca-" Duran's eyes widened suddenly, "Heal light!"

A green glow suddenly overtook Lise and her wounds closed before their very eyes, the burnt skin being restored to its former glory, but this wasn't heal light, heal light's glow was blue. "What did you do to her?"

"I don't know, I just begged the Goddess for mana and suddenly it was there, I don't know what I did," said Duran, who looked as surprised as anyone else.  
"That isn't heal light."

"Well it's doing the job alright isn't it?" replied Duran.

"You don't know what it's done! It isn't heal light!" said Hawk, his voice getting louder and angrier every second.

"Well then what do you suggest I should've done, nothing at all!" bellowed Duran.

"I humbly suggest you should have cast heal light on her!"

"Hawk?"

* * *

Angela wasn't annoyed, she was just mildly irritated. They were back on the Golden Road, again. Words couldn't describe how much this damn road aggravated her. They'd had to travel it no less than five times all those years ago whilst it was swarming with monsters which had never been pleasant and now that the monsters had been cleared out and the road was being repaired it was swarming with bandits. Most weren't stupid enough to attack a band of five, evidently experienced warriors, but being on her guard for them was just a pain in the neck.

Not only that but now she was faced with a simple problem. She was going to have to travel by cannon. All over again. At the end of their last journey she'd sworn solemnly that she'd never, ever travel that way again. It frazzled her hair, it burnt her clothes, it made the hours she'd spent beforehand perfecting her look absolutely pointless and the damned landing bloody hurt. The fact that they hadn't died on landing yet was still a miracle she still hadn't been able to figure out. It was probably something to do with the gunpowder, she couldn't imagine for a second that their relatively safe landings were to do with that lunatic Bon Voyage's competence. Then again she was probably the real lunatic for letting herself travel that way. At least he wasn't actually getting inside his own inventions. Still the prospect of getting in that cramped cannon with Duran no doubt leering at her, somehow that man always ended up behind her, was not one she was looking forward to.

Even worse was the fact that ever since the little incident at the cleft of the earth, Hawk and Duran had been at Lise's beck and call. The girl was old enough to take care of herself, hell, she looked better than Angela herself did now, after that healing. It wasn't that Angela needed the attention of either of those two, but they frankly did make better company than her mind and Kevin, who preferred to scout ahead than actually have a meaningful conversation with her. Then again, it was probably something to do with being a werewolf and she couldn't really blame him for that. Besides, meaningful conversations with the death hand were few and far between. It was always going to be difficult for an archmage to pick up a conversation with a guy who thought magic was for the weak. Mainly though, she just missed flirting with Hawk. It didn't mean anything now, it was just a way of stretching her mind, coming up with retorts as witty and full of innuendo as his own. It was a sort of conditioning, she supposed, for when she was forced to return to court. Of course, this was a lot more fun and led to consequences that were a lot more desirable than an arms treaty with Forcena.

Angela sighed, she felt like kicking herself. Seven years she'd gone without meaningful company and now after barely an hour of not talking to her friends she was feeling lonely. Sure, Victor had been nice to her and he was a good friend, but she couldn't open out to him the way she could with the others. That was probably why she liked their company so much, but nonetheless it made her feel far too clingy. She guessed that even though on the exterior she was confident and full of herself, deep down she was as needy and insecure as the next person. Being queen had just forced her to suppress those desires for the benefit of her people. Besides she naturally hid them anyway to make her mother proud. Really, in her childhood that's all she had ever wanted and to an extent that's still what she wanted above anything else now, though with her mother's condition, now it was more doing what she thought might have made her mother proud.

Angela's time with her thoughts was cut short because silhouetted by the sun Maia's walls came into view. Angela almost shuddered, not long till she'd have to get in that blasted cannon again. Her hearing probably got worse every time she travelled in that thing. But in reality it was probably better to get the journey over it instead of staying in the state of perpetual dread she was in and perhaps being forced together in the town might mean that the boys stopped attending to the star lancer's every need and actually talk to her or at least let her get a word in edgewise so she could find out how Lise was feeling for herself. The new heal light had to be researched by someone and since Duran didn't have a clue what he was doing Angela had assumed it was up to her to find out what exactly had happened in the cleft.

The Maia Angela entered was somewhat similar to the one she had left behind. The basic shops were still in the same places as was the inn, but the city now fit its name more aptly, with a fair few extra houses and more being constructed. It was to be expected really with the increased trade between Maia and Byzel. With the Golden Road at least partially repaired and not filled by droves of monsters Maia's prosperity was bound to increase especially considering that all of Maia's trade was taxed whereas Byzel's great black market took away from its host. What worried her most however, was the rather large number of cannons littering the city, evidently Bon Voyage was doing well for himself.

Angela was still glad that the city hadn't become too big since finding Bon Voyage's house would've been a pain otherwise. Thankfully it was still located right near the waterfront and thanks to Hawk's seemingly intuit direction in cities they had no trouble finding it. Fortunately the mad engineer wasn't too hard to find either, being holed up in his study as always.

They were led to him by the surprisingly good looking Bon Soir. Bon Soir had always surprised her in that aspect, she seemed to be as smart as her brother, but for some reason, she'd turned out to be far better looking. Angela didn't really want to understand the mechanics of a family where all the girls grew into beautiful young women and all the boys ended up as short fat men who held a strange obsession with giant cannons and silly hats.

Apparently this time Voyage was dreaming up a mode of transport that could travel through the air and land where his cannons couldn't reach. Of course he didn't know about a certain luxurious transport known as flying dragon type creature. Angela had always struggled with what exactly Flammie was. She felt her makeshift description was more than apt however.

They entered Bon Voyage's study to find the tiny man hunched over the blueprints of his next "masterpiece," Angela wouldn't have been surprised if the flying machine exploded in midair or needed to be shot out of a damned cannon to work properly. Evidently entering the room wasn't enough to get the attention of the lunatic so a lot of poking in the back was done instead.

Hawk instantly took up the role of negotiator, usually this was Kevin's kind of job but it had evidently been concluded that Bon Voyage counted as a shady character despite all evidence to the contrary. Someone who made those cannons had to have some sort of sinister motive behind them, surely.

"Bon Voyage, good to see you again, remember us?" Hawk said cheerfully, clapping the inventor on the back.

The lack of recognition was plain to see on the inventor's face, "Who are you people and why are you in my house?"

Angela felt an itch of irritation; Bon Voyage certainly hadn't changed over the past few years, how anyone couldn't remember a visit from the mana warriors was beyond her frankly.

Hawk however, remained completely calm, "You know us, we helped you with your cannon 7 years ago."

"Ah yes of course!" the short man nodded, and for a second Angela felt a glimmer of hope, before his face contorted into a questioning expression, "what exactly did you help me with?

The midget frustrated her how he couldn't remember that they'd helped him get gunpowder, possibly the most vital item needed for his cannon, the fact that he couldn't even remember what he'd made them go through to get it.

"We helped you get gunpowder from the dwarfs." Hawk said, somehow keeping his composure.

"Oh right!" Bon Voyage's hat bobbed up and down as he nodded his head vigorously once again, but again that his nodding stopped, "Why did you do that for me?"

Goddess, the damned man couldn't even remember that he'd set up a cannon path to Forcena, how could people be so incompetent! Every second with him was just winding her up even more.

"To send us to Forcena, in fact we need you to do it again if you can," now Angela knew why Hawk was doing the talking, he was the only person who could keep his temper with this guy.

"Ah okay, I'm sure I can do that for you!" Bon Voyage smiled, "Just follow me outside, the cannon in the back goes to Forcena," to Angela's relief Bon Voyage waddled to the exit of the study and opened the door. But there he paused, "Oh, I forgot, I lost the gunpowder, can't fire you out of that cannon without dwarven gunpowder, isn't possible I'm afraid," he said, shaking his head.

Hawk was about to continue but Angela cut in, "You mean to say that you bloody can't remember the people who helped you become the renowned inventor you are today," Angela twitched, "who went through hell and back just to help you get your fucking dwarven gunpowder and on top of that you then go and lose the stuff." Angela's twitching had now transformed into staff waving, "Did it ever occur to you oh super genius to upgrade your damned cannon to run on normal gunpowder? Like every other cannon in this city? Did it? People like you should be bloody locked up to stop your idiocy infecting other people!" Angela took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down.

"Technically, I bought the last batch of gunpowder," Bon Voyage was clearly suicidal, Angela raised her staff to assist him with his objective. However, before she could club him unconscious she found herself being dragged out of the room by Kevin who probably wanted to avoid another incident where she set a house alight with a fireball. Fortunately Kevin's head was as hard as Angela's staff..

* * *

"So we're going back the way we came why?" Angela questioned.

"To visit the dwarfs," replied Hawk, as they walked.

"And we want to visit the dwarfs why?" Angela continued, attempting to slowly let her frustrations seep out.

"To get gunpowder," Hawk patiently responded. Angela thought he might not be being patient to please her, but to keep his skull in tact, but dismissed the thought, there was no way she was that scary.

"And why do we want to get gunpowder?" Angela developed, staring forwards as they approached a turn in the road.

"Because Bon Voyage lost the last lot we gave him."

"And why does Bon Voyage need the gunpowder?"

"To fire us out of a cannon."

"And why do we want to shoot ourselves of a cannon?"

"To get to Forcena."

"And why are we going to Forcena this way?"

"Because the bridge in the Cleft of the Earth is out."

"And why is it out?"

"Because Jagan blew it up."

"So to conclude?"

"Jagan is a bastard, Bon Voyage is an idiot and we are completely and utterly insane."

Angela turned her head towards Hawk, "Hawk do you ever think we need a vacation?"

"You mean you don't find this relaxing?" the nightblade smiled back at her.

"Admittedly this is less stressful than the life of your average Queen of Reason, but my idea of relaxing involves you me and a hut on a beach somewhere."

"Now that while that does sound fun Angela, it wouldn't be the most relaxing holiday I could think of. In fact I'd bet that we'd be pretty tired by the end of it." Hawk gave her a wry grin.

"So you're telling me Lord Hawk of Navarre, mana knight and deadly nightblade would be tired out by little old me?" Angela batted her eyelashes in an attempt at an innocent expression.

"Angela whilst you might be the most pleasant company I know, you are certainly not the most relaxing," Hawk stated with a flat expression.

"Oh really," Angela feigned indignation, "then what would you suggest a relaxing holiday would consist of?"

"A hammock in Deen, before I because Lord Hawk of Navarre, with you, Lise and a horde of amazons and sorceresses waiting on my every command." Hawk smirked.

"A realistic suggestion or you get a slap," Angela gave Hawk a warning glance, it was criminal that he had any girl other than herself in that scenario.

"If you insist my dear Angela," Hawk rested his head back on his hands, "Me, alone on the isle of Oblivion, nothing but the wind and the animals to disturb me."

Angela raised an eyebrow, "And where would I be in this little fantasy of yours?" she questioned, partly because she was curious, partly because she was annoyed that his fantasy didn't involve her in any way.

"Saving yourself for when I get home of course. What's the point in having a holiday if you can't enjoy the trip back?"

Angela let out a giggle, "I would slap you for that Hawk, but you do make a very good point. Though," she continued, having given the topic a bit more thought, "surely the anticipation would mean you couldn't truly relax on your holiday."

Hawk nodded, "True, but then, this is me we're talking about, I'd forget my own name with a week of relaxation, let alone what was going to happen after that week."

Angela smiled, "Are you implying that I'm a forgettable character?" she said in mock anger.

"Oh far from it Angela, I'm just implying that I've got the memory of a goldfish or at least I would have, if I ever got a damn holiday."

Angela hugged her nightblade with one arm in consolation, "Such is the life of Lord Hawkeye of Navarre. You'll get a break eventually, they can't keep you working in Navarre forever, perhaps we'll get one after this little debacle's over," Angela grinned hopefully, in spite of how unlikely a break was.

Angie took the lull in their conversation to look around, Duran was with Lise behind them, the paladin hadn't left her side since the cleft. He seemed to feel guilty about the heal light he had done and was probably still a bit worried as well.

"Hawk," Angela wondered, "why aren't you with Lise at the moment? An hour ago you were waiting on her hand and foot" that question had been plaguing her mind ever since Bon Voyage's house, but she hadn't found the right moment to ask it.

"Lise needs her space at the moment." Hawk explained, "She really doesn't understand what happened to her or how close she came to," Hawk's voice trailed off. "She's quite confused at the moment and frankly, two guys obsessing over her well-being isn't going to help things. The fact is, that Lise is a strong woman and as much as I want to go over there and make sure she's alright, that isn't what she needs at the moment." Hawk turned to look at Angela, "Besides, after a certain little incident, it looks like somebody needs me more than Lise."

Angela did have the decency to blush, hitting Kevin about the head hadn't been her greatest moment of all time.

"The dwarfs are waiting for us Hawk, I told them we were coming," Angela jumped, she hadn't seen Kevin appear next to her, the beastman didn't look tired and from the area around them Angela was fairly certain that the cleft wasn't very far away. Angela's suspicions were confirmed when she caught sight of the entrance to the cleft through the trees on the side of the road, with a dwarf standing guard.

The dwarf was surprisingly formal, from what Angela remembered, the dwarfs were really quite friendly people, at least they hadn't been annoyed when their light based protection scheme had been sussed out by Wisp. She'd at least expected a greeting of some sort, but instead, they were led in stoic silence to the dwarf village. Perhaps the dwarfs didn't like leaving the safety of their underground village, though that really didn't fit with their usual character.

Upon reaching the village however, the silence was broken. One of the slightly older dwarfs greeted them warmly, "Hello my friends, it's good to see you again after all these years!" Angela, couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about this dwarf she recognised, "I'm Daynadin, the weapons crafter, we met seven years ago. I never knew you people would turn out to be mana knights; it was quite an honour really. I prayed to the goddess every day for you to return so I could thank you for all that you did for us." Daynadin let out a gruff laugh, "In retrospect I probably shouldn't have charged you ten percent extra on all the goods you bought." Daynadin continued before they could get a word in, "Now to business, Watts, as you've probably guessed, isn't actually in the village again. I believe he's been prospecting for new silver veins in the tunnels that the jewel eater opened up." Daynadin ushered them out of the village and down to the tunnels, "We would provide an escort, but he wouldn't know where Watts is, and frankly what help could a dwarf offer the great mana knights?" Daynadin stopped and pointed at an entrance, "There, that's the entrance you need, with a little luck you'll find Watts in no time at all."

There wasn't a single person in the party who hadn't been overwhelmed by the wall of speech that Daynadin was. Nodding uncertainly, Hawk and Lise uncertainly trotted off to the tunnel, evidently they wanted to get the search going whilst the others said goodbye on their behalf. Angela turned back to Daynadin as she saw them disappear down the shaft.

The cavern shook, an explosion rang in her ears and a wave of dirt rushed up behind her.

Turning, Angela found the entire tunnel had collapsed behind her. "Hawk!" she screamed before scrambling to the cave entrance. Angela banged on the rocks, but to no avail, with great difficulty she attempted to lift them away from the entrance, but they were either too heavy for her or stuck fast. Even knowing this Angela still tried to yank the rocks away, choosing to move smaller rocks from the bottom before she tried anything larger.

"Guys!" she screamed, "I need a little help here!" but neither Duran nor Kevin appeared at her side, "Guys!" she shouted again, meeting no response, "Guys!" she screamed at the top of the lungs, "help me or they'll die!"

Finally she heard a voice, "Angela!" it sounded like Duran, but his voice was shaky, "look behind you."

Angela turned slowly, turned to find rank upon rank of armoured dwarven warriors, their plate mail shimmering in the firelight. And dead centre, those piercing red eyes, that unforgiving glare and that outstretched palm.

"Dark Force."

* * *

Writer's rants

Response to reviewers:

Hawk of Navarre: Thanks for your continuous reviews, they're much appreciated. I really liked that Lise chapter, I had something similar happening in my life at the time, I still do to an extent, so I was writing from experience and looking back it turned out quite well. I'm currently on my fifth, yes that's right, fifth run through the game with a Hawk/Lise/Duran party, brilliant fun having full screen moves on all of your characters after the first class change. I got my update faster this time, yay!

Jdem: Love the enthusiasm. hides in a corner You're far too kind with your compliments though now I feel bad since you might be worried about Lise. Gah, I guess it's my job to do that. Finally, I'm glad you liked the flirting, sometimes I worry it can sound a bit forced.

Witch girl Pilar: As always I remain quiet about pairings. But you don't have to worry Lise is alright….. or is she! OO

Cleopatra Antoinette: Slow deaths on sharp objects are my favourite kind. evil I shall keep who you're rooting for in mind, then ignore it when I make my final decisions. Aren't I nasty?

Lena: You'd save yourself a lot of effort and time if you just favourited my story, then you'd get an email every time I updated! I'm now being compared to the writers at Square-Enix, this surprises and scares me, in a good way. But yes, Lise might be dead, so I'm not sure how your pairings would work, though I agree, she does deserve more attention like that. Most fics focus on Angela.

Real rant:

As always, I apologise for the delay and thank you for sticking with me, you guys are who I keep pushing myself for. I started writing this chapter in India and managed to get it finished after a month of writing due to computer problems and blegh. I liked the way it turned out frankly, it's been a nice change of pace from my previous chapters with two fast bits instead of just one at the end. It's the next chapter I'm really looking forward to though. Up until now, I've only had an outline of how my storyline's going to pan out and so my writing hasn't really been put to the test. My next chapter is probably going to be the toughest one I'll ever write, if I do it well, then I can die happy. Guess what I'm going to ask? Yes that's right folks. Read and Review! If you read the chapter just write something, I don't care what, a single letter will do if need be. The mere knowledge that you're there inspires me to write more, plus you'll get your own response in reviewer responses, how special is that! Free invisible tasteless ice cream for anyone who reviews. You know you want it!


	17. A Night In

Pre-story Writer's Rants

I am no longer going to school. Hell yes. They even gave me some economics prize. How stupid are they?

A Night In

Lise's eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurred, it was like looking through water. The Star Lancer felt an immediate stab of fear, how could she fight if she couldn't see? This must have been some twisted joke, some terrible dream, she couldn't be alive. It wasn't possible to cheat death twice in a day. Still Lise tried to lift her head and was dismayed to find that even that gave her trouble. There was a sharp pain at the back of her head. She was fairly convinced she was bleeding, though with a little luck the reason she couldn't feel it was because the wound wasn't too bad and not because her senses were slowly ebbing away due to blood loss. Lise squeezed her eyes shut. Yet when she opened them the cave was still there. Uncertainly, Lise concluded that she had indeed cheated death again.

If raising her head had been difficult, pushing her body up was next to impossible. But she forced herself. If she was bleeding, sitting up would slow the blood supply to the back of her head. It wasn't painful, just tiring, as if she'd been on Rolantian mountain training for the past week. She may have been concussed by the collapse, she couldn't quite be sure. Yet as she struggled to lean against the cave wall she was happy to find her vision beginning to clarify. They were still not a patch on her normal, eagle eyed vision, but at least now her own feet didn't seem blurred. The fact that the cave wasn't pitch black was another surprise. For some reason, it permitted some light, she couldn't understand how exactly, there may have been a crack at the top but the illumination was patchy at best and with her eyesight as it was, she struggled to see even a few feet beyond her body. She forced her head to turn as she attempted to scan to the right and she came face to face with a pair of gorgeous brown eyes. She would have jumped or screamed had she been able to think or move that quickly. Instead she just stared into them, longingly. No, Lise firmly closed her eyes and struggled to turn away, she didn't have time for it, she wouldn't.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," said Hawk. Even after such a spectacular catastrophe he sounded full of icy calm. Her voice would have been trembling, she was sure. It took a lot to shake Hawk, there was a part of him which had seen things she couldn't imagine, had done things she couldn't imagine. A part of her wanted to forget all of that, wanted to brush it aside, but despite all his smiles and flirting, the man had a ruthless mind. She smiled weakly at him, less of a struggle than she'd expected. "You weren't hurt too badly by the cave in, you may have cracked your skull, but I doubt it," Hawk's voice took on a mocking tone, "it seems the Goddess thought to build you with a hard head." Lise could feel Hawk's smile, her vision seemed almost back up to scratch again, but she was afraid to look at him, at those ravishing eyes, "The bleeding stopped of its own accord, though you do owe me a new waistcoat." Ambitiously Lise attempted to reach behind her head. She was taken aback when her arm followed her thoughts, perfectly. Perhaps she really hadn't been injured that seriously. It might have just been shock. Goddess only knew how calming Hawk's voice was.

Lise squeezed her eyes shut, again. Perhaps the cave-in had affected her wits instead of her limbs, she knew better than to moon over Hawk, she didn't have time for a man, even if she did like him, well, more than like him. As her lids flicked up again she was pleased to notice that her eyesight seemed to have returned to normal, though she couldn't understand why. She took a little time to scan the cave they were stuck in. The structure was so strange, there were at least 3 rocks in the ceiling which she was convinced should have been falling on them. There didn't even seem to be a support aside from the walls themselves. Lise smiled slightly; perhaps the Goddess really was protecting them.

Steeling herself, Lise slowly turned to face Hawk again, "Hawk, how are we still alive?" she asked pronouncing the words slowly, deliberately. The blow to her apparently hadn't impeded her speech.

"I'm not sure Lise. The explosion should have made the entire cave crumble around us," Lise stared at him incredulously, explosion? "I don't know why it's held up. The Goddess must be on our side." So they had been betrayed, but why? That unfortunately would have to be a question for later, finding a way out of the cave was the real problem.

"So how do we get out then?" she questioned the Nightblade, he evidently knew more of the situation than she herself did.

Hawk hesitated slightly, "We don't, if we move a single rock here, the cave's probably going to crumble. Our only hope is that we hold on long enough for Angie and the others to find us." Angela, and the others. What Lise would have given to know what really was happening between the two of them, yet the amazon noticed something else about Hawk's voice. She felt a strain, tension. Cursing herself for not doing so before, she gave Hawk a once over, it was worth it, even if she did have to endure a wise crack from him. Not that she didn't enjoy it, but flirting tended to cloud her mind somewhat.

As she looked Lise was dismayed at not hearing a word from the nightblade. Not because she wanted to hear him flatter her, but because it was so unlike Hawk not to. And then she noticed it, a deep red patch just above his left hip. Lise frowned, "You're hurt," she said making no effort to hide her concern. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hawk grinned, it wasn't a weak grin as such, it just seemed, tired, "Oh you know, sexy ladies just love a man with bravado." Lise stifled a sigh, barely, before removing the pesky man's shirt, so she could get a better look at the wound.

It was, inconvenient to say the least. The gash was thin and whilst deep, not dangerously so. The problem was that she had no bandages with her and she needed a length of cloth long enough to wrap around his waist. Knowing she'd probably end up regretting it later Lise held her dress to the floor, tearing at the hem. It came away easily and neatly enough. Unfortunately Lise had to tear it for four turns and was now bearing a good six more inches of leg than normal. Had the cut been any deeper or thicker, Lise blushed at the thought, she was already bordering on indecency as it was.

Lise began winding the green silk around Hawk's waist. Usually she would be wearing wool, but Eliza had insisted that a queen visiting Wendel should be clad in nothing but the finest Rolante had to offer. She had complained before, but now she was grateful, stout woollens would have irritated Hawk's injury far more than the soft green silk. "How long do you think the cave will hold up Hawk?" she questioned as she started to knot the makeshift bandage.

"I'm not sure, I don't think that's our main worry. Even if light is getting in, we're taking a lot more air in than is being replaced. I'd wager we had a day at most." Lise nodded gravely as she checked to make sure her work was tight enough, though Hawk's wince was more than enough to confirm it.

"So there's nothing we can do but wait and hope then?" Lise silently prayed that Hawk had come up with another one of his brilliant plans.

"It's a shame to have all this power and not be able to use it," Hawk murmured in response.

Lise tried not to frown. It had been a long time since she had truly been helpless. Even though her lifeline consisted of three of the most powerful people the world had seen, she still disliked the feeling. And yet, there was nothing she could do about the emotion or her situation. In a twisted way it was funny, people so powerful trapped in a hole underground, entirely dependant on others when they were meant to be 'heroes.'

Lise let out a laugh, filled with bitter anger. The confused stare she got from Hawk was considering to say the least, "Hawk, why is it that the two of us always end up in ridiculous situations like this?" She knew it was a redundant question, but she didn't care. Talking to Hawk was better than making him think she was going insane.

"Oh I have no idea," the Navarrian replied sarcastically, "You'd never expect Mana Knights to get into dangerous situations for the benefit of the people, no, not in a million years." It was an odd comment for Hawk, she had been certain he'd turn it into a joke about her being a damsel in distress.

"True, but it really says something when you've been shot out of a cannon on numerous occasions," she smiled at Hawk; perhaps it would make him feel better. The man seemed subdued. Grim, determined, silent, she could have fit those onto Hawk easily, but subdued? Hawk was anything but that. Lise only hoped it wasn't her company that was keeping him quiet.

"We can't really help that Forcena is effectively in the middle of nowhere. All the water jutsus in the world won't stop it from being landlocked. The fact that bridges seem to enjoy exploding in front of us doesn't really help either." Hawk smiled at her, it was a radiant smile, "And besides I can't really complain when I'm trapped alone with a stunning, long legged amazon, now can I?" Lise felt her face warm. She tried to smooth her dress over her legs only to find that 6 inches of it was wrapped around Hawk's waist. There had been nothing rude, nothing even suggestive about it, it was just the way Hawk was, but he had no right to comment on her legs, he shouldn't have been looking at them to begin with!

Hawk merely laughed at her, a rich laugh, without a care in the world, yet Lise felt strain in it, she could swear his face looked different, tenser perhaps. But that couldn't be, he hadn't been doing anything strenuous and he didn't seem to be bleeding. It was his damned flirting; she couldn't concentrate when he did that. It sent her completely off skew, she was imagining things now. Yet part of her still wished he would do it more often. Lise suppressed that part again; it had been awfully vocal as of late. Besides, the indignant part of her was rather irritated at the moment, the man was still holding back a chuckle.

Lacking the words Lise just directed a glare at Hawk, who managed to look so innocent that you would think that she had been the one to do something wrong. "I'm laughing Lise," Hawk paused gathering himself up for him, "I'm laughing because I mean what I say. I really can't complain about being here. When was the last time we were alone together Lise?" When they'd met in Jad, of course she knew that, "With all our blasted adventures I've barely been able to look at you, let alone talk to you," adventures with Angela no doubt. "The truth is I missed being with you. I missed you Lise," Hawk paused slightly, his voice lowered to a murmur "I missed you."

* * *

Duran slashed furiously, as he felt the blood ooze steadily from the cut under his eye, the dwarf in front of him was strong and surprisingly fast. Even for a mana knight these little menaces were proving trouble. Sure, it was easy enough to hit the diminutive men, but cutting through an inch think layers of plate mail armour really did take it out of a man. It had been easy at first, the warriors had fallen in his wake, but strengthened by whatever black magic Jagan seemed to have learned, they had soon begun to press their advantage and without his shield Duran had been finding it increasingly difficult to block all of their attacks whilst maintaining a meaningful offence. The problem was, for every attack he made, he'd had to dodge or parry another three. Not that he was bad at dodging and parrying, he was just no duellist and at the moment he was wishing he'd chosen that path. 

The real problem however lay elsewhere. Even when he did attack and even when he did hit solidly, both difficult tasks, his adversaries merely shrugged off the wound. Short of taking their heads clean off Duran had to wound these guys three or four times to stagger them. let alone fell them. If the heavy armour had not slowed them down so much Duran was sure he would have more wounds than the shallow cuts scattered across his chest. The cut below his eye was slightly more worrying, had he moved a second later. Duran kept his focus on the battle at hand. If he couldn't make some room for a heal light soon, the blood loss was going to slow him down. A duellist would probably have fed off that very blood, the rage fuelling his strength. A paladin though, a paladin was meant to keep utterly calm in battle. It was right to feel angry, passionate about a cause, but letting one's judgement be impaired, that would lead to your doom.

Duran feigned an attack to the left throwing the dwarf off balance, but instead of going for a difficult slash at the neck, the paladin pressed his boot against the cool metal. His body twisted as he did to find another dwarf attempting a sneak attack in five hundred pounds of armour. Kicking with all of his might, Duran threw his entire weight behind a slice at the second dwarf's head. Duran felt the impact of steel against unforgiving steel yet that gave way to the less familiar feel of steel against bone. Duran grimaced. He had never liked killing people to begin with, yet this hurt. These people had been his friends, they had helped him. If it hadn't been personal before, it was now. Duran turned, wrenching his sword away from the corpse to find the first dwarf unable to rise. Dwarfs admittedly had an advantage thanks to their low centre of gravity, but plate hadn't really been designed with the strength of a mana knight in mind.

Duran scanned the cave, searching for his next target, four dwarfs, too far away from combat to be of any use, decided to diverted their attention from the queen of Altena. Angela already seemed to have her hands full holding off three of their comrades. Around her lay the burnt husks of dwarfs who had got on the wrong side of a fireball, cooked inside their own armour. Altena's queen had started resorting to staff work now, her mana supply being limited at best, but fortunately, despite her lack of skills in melee combat she was still holding her own. When you couldn't cut through their armour bludgeoning your hapless opponents was the best option you had.

As the pack of dwarfs approached him Duran's eyes quickly searched for Kevin. The beastman had been fighting Jagan exclusively. Catching a flicker of movement to his left, Duran saw an Ashura dream fist fly clear over Jagan's head whereupon the vampire promptly responded by stabbing razor sharp claws at Kevin's chest. The howl of pain echoed through the cave and reminded Duran of the blazing cuts across his chest.

They couldn't hold on much longer. A heallight on Kevin would be wasted. As strong as he was, Jagan was outclassing him. Kevin's strength lay in sweeping through swarms of enemies, but he simply couldn't keep up with the vampire. Hawk and Lise were built for one on one combat, but they couldn't help now.

He had to end it. Cursing as he barely dodged an axe swung for his neck. Duran began the incantation for saint sabre. A decent connection against Jagan might be enough to put him away. Yet as he parried a slice at his legs Duran felt the spell slither away. It couldn't be. Duran aimed a thrust at a dwarf eye only to see it batted away. He tried again, jumping back to avoid reprisal for his poor thrust. There wasn't anything there. Desperately Duran clawed for mana, parrying a blade here, dodging away from steel which was getting far too close for comfort. He searched, he begged for it, but he was only greeted by the feeling of his back touching the cave wall. This was it, no escape, no mercy, he was going to die. Duran gave in to desperation, gave in to his basic instincts and it was there. Duran drew on the power, he revelled in it, the goddess had found a way again.

Throwing caution to the wind Duran channelled the power into his blade, making a long slash at the dwarfs in front of him. His blade clove through the dwarf's armour like a hot knife through butter and through the dwarf next to him. This wasn't saint sabre. Duran reversed his swing and watched again as the dwarfs before him were literally cut in half. Duran looked at the sword. The warm glow of saint sabre had been replaced. The entire blade seemed to be replaced. Duran didn't know what he was holding, grey lightning sparked across a bar of molten steel, giving wake to a searing glow. The sword seemed to have a life of its own, its thickness waxing and waning with every second. Duran didn't know what he was holding. Duran didn't care what he was holding.

Duran's eyes fixed on Jagan, who had successfully delivered another crushing blow to Kevin's chest. The beastman sagged to one knee before the vampire. Jagan smiled with smug satisfaction. He raised his palm to Kevin's face, dismissively as he gathered energy for his coup de grace.

Duran roared, charging forward. No dwarf got near him, no dwarf dared to. Yet Jagan seemed entirely focused on Kevin.

Duran lept, blade raised, clearing Kevin. Now Jagan saw him. And those eyes, those blood red eyes, they betrayed his fear.

"Master, no!"

Jagan's head rolled to the floor

* * *

"Hey Hawk?" Lise shifted her head on the nightblade's shoulder, still feeling slightly groggy. She didn't know when she'd dozed off, but it seemed like Hawk had been up the whole time. Lise's dreams had for once been pleasant. She'd be damned if she could remember them, but they hadn't been polluted by the dark presence that seemed to haunt her. Oddly enough Lise actually felt refreshed. Yet as she'd floated between her dreams and the waking world, one nagging question had irritated her, she had to ask. 

"Hawk?" she said softly, "What's going on between you and Angela?" Lise tried to make it sound as conversational as possible, yet she could sense her friend's apprehension.

Hawk moved a hand to stroke at her braid, unconsciously trying to mask his anxiety, "I don't know, I really don't know."

Lise poked Hawk in his ribs, "I'm serious, 'I don't know' isn't a very good answer," she said in mock annoyance.

Hawk paused, seemingly mulling over question slightly more, "I am being serious though. Angie's a mystery wrapped in an enigma, half the time I'm the only person in the world to her and the other half, well the other half, I may as well not exist."

Lise gave Hawk a flat look, raising an eyebrow. For an assassin, Hawk really wasn't a very good liar.

"Alright, alright, so maybe she pays more attention to me than I make out, but it's disconcerting when a girl who wanted to kiss you five seconds ago suddenly thinks better of it and firmly tells you to leave her alone." Hawk flashed a weary smile, "I do like her, but I doubt it's ever going to be a serious relationship. It's lonely at the top, I think she just needed somebody and I happened to be there."

Lise understood, being a queen wasn't easy. Most people never saw beyond the royalty, beyond the riches and fame. Almost nobody saw the woman wearing the crown. Hawk didn't see Queen Angela, he saw Angie. He saw the Angie who could barely cast a holy ball spell. That alone was enough to fall for a man. In a way, Hawk was just being a good friend.

Lise's arm wrapped around Hawk and squeezed. She knew what she was doing. She didn't want to, but she did it anyway. Her mind was rationalising, rationalising the idea of trying to steal Hawk from Angela. It was wrong, she didn't want it, she didn't want to harm her friend, she didn't have time for a man, but she still did it anyway.

"Don't get me wrong, Angie is nice to look at," Lise just had to look at Hawk, her expression didn't change a hair, "Alright she's very nice to look at. But I still can't help but wonder whether this is some huge plot to secure all of Navarre's trade for Altena. It really is hard to forget yourself with a woman renowned for being the deftest political manipulator alive today," Lise nodded, relationships between leaders were always difficult, there were too many undercurrents, too many hidden agendas, "especially when you've got people counting on you, relying on you to protect them."

Lise hugged Hawk tighter. One moment dashing rogue, the next, responsible leader. It was hard to see that side of him, the reliable one. Yet for all the years she had known Hawk, he'd never broken a promise. He seemed reckless, uncaring, yet deep down she knew there wasn't a person alive she could trust more. That was why she liked Hawk.

Lise stopped herself from thinking another thought. She couldn't be. She didn't have time, she didn't want it. It was a ridiculous notion. The Queen of Rolante and the Lord of Navarre, no one would accept it, every problem that was happening between Hawk and Angela would happen to them. And besides, regardless of these problems Hawk liked Angela anyway, even if it wasn't serious and Lise suspected that Hawk was merely trying to spare her feelings anyway.

"Besides I've always been told it's impolite to talk about relationships in front of a lady and Lise, you are the last person I would want to get on the wrong side of," Hawk gave her an affectionate smile.

Lise beamed back at him, "Believe me Hawk that's about as likely as the sun rising in the West."

"I'd still like to avoid it, however unlikely."

Lise's beaming smile turned to an inquisitive one, "Why pray tell?" she really wasn't sure if she could get angry at Hawk even if she tried.

"Oh I don't know, a spear through my stomach perhaps?"

Lise felt her face heating, she wasn't sure what shade of crimson she had gone, "It was your own blasted fault, that line was horrific." Of all the flaming luck. Why had she of all people been the one he hit on in that bar. There had been serving girls in there who looked better, not including the dancers.

"I still think it's a good one!" Hawk protested.

"Then you're delusional!" Lise blurted out her retort before she had even thought about it.

"Name one guy who would try that apart from me!" Hawk replied.

"I can't because there isn't another guy that foolish!" that comeback was far too easy. Usually Hawk's wit would rattle her mind so badly that she wouldn't know up from down.

"Lise, am I not alone with the very woman I used that line on?" Hawk said in an exultant tone.

"Yes but," Lise tried to respond.

"The proof is in the pudding Lise. I am alone with an alluring beauty and you are still protesting that it didn't work," but for all Hawk tried to look majestic and triumphant, he just seemed tired. Lise tried to comment but Hawk continued too quickly, his voice lowered, "Though in all honesty Lise," Hawk's shoulders sagged, "I don't think I'll be able to use that line again."

Lise looked at Hawk askance, "Why on earth not?" Lise attempted vainly to hide her shock. Hawk in all his life had never been a defeatist, he'd virtually won that argument and now he was handing it to her? "We've still got plenty of time left, there are hundreds of inns and bars where you could try it."

Hawk coughed, "I'm sorry Lise, I couldn't keep it up," his voice trembled.

Lise still didn't understand, "Couldn't keep what up?" A few seconds ago they had been talking about pick up lines. Lise's eyes darted to the wound in Hawk's side, but there wasn't any more blood, even if it had been infected, no illness would tire a fully trained nightblade so easily, "What's wrong Hawk?" Lise said, trying to stay calm. There had to be a logical explanation. If she understood what was wrong she could fix it. Panicking wouldn't help anyone.

"The pressure, it's too great," Hawk's breath had become ragged, Lise couldn't understand, what was pushing him. Her eyes scanned the cave, it still seemed to be the same, there weren't any cracks in the walls that she could see. She looked to the ceiling, the dim light shone through the rocks wedged together.

Lise looked to Hawk and promptly she stared back the ceiling. No, Lise's eyes widened. No, she looked at Hawk. How could light shine through rocks wedged tightly together. He couldn't have. Yet there wasn't another explanation. Slowly Lise turned to Hawk.

"I'm sorry Lise. I didn't want you to worry," he said, he tried to laugh, but nothing came out.

"You idiot. You stupid, stupid, idiot." Lise's could feel anger seething inside of her, "I had a right to know! Why didn't you tell me! You held up the entire blasted ceiling by yourself and you never told me! I could have done something! I could have helped you!" Lise tried to blink away the tears. "Why Hawk? I'm not worth it. You could have saved yourself."

"What kind of man," Hawk took in a deep breath of air, "would save himself at the cost of a beautiful woman."

Lise wanted to slap him. The man was dying of exhaustion and he still remembered to make her blush. Or at least attempt to, she was too stricken with fear and alarm to blush now. How could one man hold an entire ceiling with a simple jutsu?

"A sane one!" Lise screamed in response.

"I never claimed sanity Lise," Hawk closed his eyes, his voice had regained its composure, his breathing had slowed, yet Hawk looked worse.

"But I didn't ask for this!" Lise twisted, releasing her grip on Hawk.

"My entire life, people I care for have died, died because of my weakness." Hawk's eyes opened slightly, he faced her, his grin didn't change a hair, "I'm sorry Lise, I failed again." And with that Hawk's eyes seemed to lose focus.

"Goddess, no Hawk! Don't give up, you've never given up before!" Lise tried to shake Hawk, he seemed as lifeless as a rag doll, yet the cave was still holding. "Don't give up, please. Hawk listen to me! You can't give up, we've come too far for that."

Yet for all her talking Hawk didn't seem to hear a word. "Listen to me damn you! You can't do this. You can't, the Hawk I know wouldn't give up. The Hawk I know would fight to the last breath!" Hawk was doing exactly that of course, Lise just prayed that the encouragement was doing something. "You can't die now Hawk, not after everything we've been through together, everything you've put me through!" The man had messed with her mind constantly for the last seven years, it was criminal to stop now. He hadn't even kissed her goodbye.

"I did not hold on just to see you die in my wretched arms!" her screams echoed through the cave. Yet Hawk's eyes, just for a second seemed to regain some of their hazel charm. "That's right Hawk," Lise turned her eyes to the floor, even now the tiniest confession was still hard, "you kept me alive. When I was dying on that cliff I wasn't going to make it. I saw the holyland again Hawk. But then I heard your voice. Your voice, it made me fight. I fought; I left paradise beside the Goddess herself so I could see your face again."

Lise didn't know if Hawk was hearing this, he was still alive, that was the only thing that mattered, everything else could burn, as long as he was still alive. "Ever since the day we met, ever since you kissed me, I haven't been able to move on. I've tried Hawk, I've tried, but no matter what I did, I couldn't. I've tried to kiss other men, lords, princes, generals but they could have been stones for all I cared. I've tried to bury myself in work, in responsibility, but I always knew something was missing."

Lise squeezed her eyes shut, she'd dreaded this moment, "Hawk you can't die because if you do life won't be worth living. You can't die because you'll take a part of me with you. Hawk you can't die because I need you, I've always needed you. I"

Lise felt lips pressed against hers, arms wrapped around her. Lise melted. Nothing had ever compared, nothing ever would. This was what she had waited for. Lise could hear the cave collapsing around her, she didn't care. Seconds, minutes, hours, time stood still. Everything else disappeared. For a second that lasted a lifetime she was just a girl and he was just a man and nothing else mattered.

She had found her Hawk.

In fact she was so overwrought that she didn't notice one of the cave walls collapse, or the purple haired figure that strode through the rubble.

"Hawk I'm so glad you're.."

Response to Reviewers

HawkofNavarre: I did like how Angela came out in that chapter and the whole mother approval thing is pretty evident if you take her up as your main in SD3. I'm sorry for not updating as quickly, but final exams and all needed my attention. Needless to say, I'll keep writing even if it takes me four years to finish.

CleopatraAntoinette: The love square in now in utter mayhem. I am pleased, very pleased. And sadly Angela wasn't as prominent in this chapter as in the previous ones. Without mana well fewer gruesome deaths are on the cards. Still I do like cooked dwarf.

Jdem: Mysterious healing and mysterious saint sabre will remain mysterious. While last chapter was intense right at the beginning I tried something new with this one, building it up to a peak at the end. I hope you enjoyed that. And well, I hope you enjoyed the Hawk/Lise moment at the end as well.

Witch Girl Pilar: Sadly Koren isn't back, Jagan just has a tough time taking a hint and that friggin' bastard almost killed Kevin as well.

Stephanie P. New reviewer! dances Overall I like to think I've done a good job, but I look back at my first chapters and sometimes I sigh. I do like to think I'm improving but this chapter, well, it's the hardest one I've had to write so far.

Real Rant

As always your continuing support is appreciated. This chapter, well, I've been looking to write this chapter for a very long time. It's the first chapter since the first five that I knew was going to happen from when I first started. I've been sort of operating on a bare bones plan, I know what's going to happen at certain points in the story, but I've given myself leeway as to what I write between those points. As such this chapter was possibly the hardest one I've ever written since it's a huge part of my story. The main difficulties I came up with was making the Hawk/Lise thing not seem forced, which is very difficult if you've got to have a kiss at the end of it. I really hope I did a good job on it, I think it sounds good, but then, your vision is slightly impaired when it's your own work. As some of you might have guessed, I got a lot of inspiration from the episode of _Porridge_ with the same name. Originally I planned to have just one long Hawk/Lise chapter, in the same way _Porridge _had one long dialogue. But I realised that I lack the wit and skill of the _Porridge _writers so a fight scene fit into the middle (And the ability to black in and out to change the scene).

I really hope you enjoyed it and I didn't butcher the romance too much. Thanks as always for bearing with my awful update schedule, hopefully my workload at university will be lighter so I can look at this more. I'm also sorry for getting drunk one evening during the writing and not being able to do anything that night because I was out of it.

If you did like it, please review, if you thought it was alright, please review, if you hated it so much that you spewed forth blood and guts upon reading it, please review, it's the only way I'll get better. Free invisible, unhearable, unrideable aircraft for those who review.


	18. Boiling Point

**Boiling Point**

Kevin was tired. Kevin was very tired. His dreams, constantly filled with images of the faceless horror he'd seen in Pedan. Part of it was probably just his transition from nocturnal to diurnal. It wasn't that waking up in the daytime was bad, it was just that after weeks of doing so it started getting to you. Part of it was also the stress of not letting his speech revert to disjointed sentences. It wasn't really acceptable in the beast kingdom either, but at least there he could use it in his rooms if he was tired without fear of being caught or judged. But even with all of these explanations he still felt there was something, tangible, something that was almost real about these dreams. Still he couldn't let his weakness show. He was the Goddess's chosen for a reason and if that meant a little acting in front of his friends, then so be it.

Kevin walked to the window of his room. The sun was rising, a flaming orange ball on the horizon. Forcena, for what it was worth was a lot more beautiful than most other kingdoms. Whereas other nations had paved over the grass that grew in their cities the people of Forcena lived with it and with the trees that got in their way. He didn't know why that felt so comforting; perhaps it reminded him of the Moonlight forest. Perhaps all the greenery was just pleasant to look at. He didn't really care, as long as it made him feel good.

Kevin turned his bed lying unmade in front of him. At least for once he couldn't complain about having a rock as a pillow and pebbles as a mattress. Forcena castle was very good in that area. He was unsure if the chief maid would appreciate the wolf hair that had mysteriously appeared in the bed overnight, but he supposed if the world was to be saved them sacrifices had to be made by all. Kevin growled, he probably had to comb his hair today since they were in polite company and he truly didn't wish to embarrass Duran in front of all the Lords. Picking up a brush from his desk he set about cleaning himself up. Wincing every time he unearthed a new tangle Kevin tried not to grumble under his breath. It just felt wrong, it felt like he was taming something that was meant to be wild, meant to be free. He never liked that feeling. Also the feeling that he was ripping his hair out every time he came across a knot was never pleasant. He couldn't understand how Angela and Lise put up with such long hair, it must have given them endless grief. Still, even a beastman could appreciate that it looked good on them. In fact, he did prefer long hair on the women he met. The priestess of mana's hair had looked particularly good in his view. Then again, he hadn't had time to pay much attention to it, she had been too busy berating them for him to lose his concentration. Besides he was certain a girl like that would have thought her hair a frivolous waste of time. Kevin never professed to knowing much about women. If you wanted to know about women you asked Hawk, or even Duran over him.

Muttering under his breath as he finished making himself look vaguely presentable, Kevin wandered out of his room. He probably needed to get something to eat, which would entail going to the mess halls. Kevin swung left at the next corner, unfortunately the architect who had constructed Forcena castle had, in his infinite wisdom, thought to put the kitchens on the other side of the castle, as far away from the guest quarters as possible. Then again, it was hardly the longest journey Kevin was going to make. His ears were still ringing from that ridiculous cannon. Not only was it a pain for all of them to squeeze in the barrel, especially considering Angela's current attire, but on top of that, he'd sent them the wrong way, again. Bon Voyage was at least twenty-three kinds of stupid, perhaps more. Who on earth would lose gunpowder given him by the mana knights. Who would forget the mana knights? Landing in the Molebear Highlands instead of Forcena, still hot from the cannon explosion was enough to make you rip out the hair, you'd spent hours combing just for blasted lords.

But for all of Bon Voyage's incompetence, his screw up had shown Kevin something important. The Molebear Highlands were literally swarming with their namesake, Kevin really wasn't sure how Forcena was holding out against them, with that many, keeping trade routes open was going to be difficult at the very best. Kevin had expected as many as he had found when they last visited the area, but this, this was ridiculous. It was just like the way the number of monsters had shot up seven years ago. The trouble was, the last time that happened, their numbers hadn't declined since. If the same thing was happening now, Kevin shook his head, he didn't want to think about it, that was Duran's concern, not his own.

Unfortunately Kevin really wasn't certain as to what his own concern was at the moment. They had been waiting in Forcena castle for a good week now and nothing had happened. He had been certain this was meant to be a trap, been certain that if they walked into it properly, they could spring it and nobody would get hurt. But nothing had happened, there was no sign of a trap, there seemed to be nothing wrong and with every passing day Kevin was beginning to think that they'd been played for fools again. They were puppets dangling on the strings of whoever was orchestrating this whole thing. Hawk had said it before, right now, they were too busy responding to their opponent to make plans of their own and that was going to be their downfall. Kevin wanted to leave Forcena, he wanted to go somewhere else, but without a single clue to go on, they were stuck, stuck until another lead showed itself. And somehow, Kevin knew that the lead would show exactly when the mastermind behind all of this wanted it to.

As Kevin wandered into the kitchens for his breakfast he tried to suppress his dark thoughts. He didn't like making everyone worry, he was meant to be a symbol of hope after all. Or at least, he had been a symbol of hope. He wasn't sure what a warrior of light who was allegedly on a quest sitting around doing nothing was. Then again, he hoped the meeting he had called today would actually do something and if it didn't, well, at least it would look like they were doing something. Drawing a plate, Kevin didn't pay much attention to the food he was given. He was sure they'd be delicacies which were more art than food. Kevin was a beastman, beastmen didn't particularly care how lightly spiced their food was, they just ate what they were given. Kevin considered whether people didn't take him as seriously because he couldn't enjoy their so-called 'finer' points in life. Then again, he supposed they'd take an angry Death Hand ready to rip their heads off slightly more seriously than your average noble.

Kevin, stuffed himself as quickly as possible. It was the beastman attitude again. Food was just there for sustenance, taking time to enjoy it was just time that could be better spent on other things, saving the world might be a good place to start off. Besides, he'd called the meeting for mid morning. Even with his sleep patterns following those of normal humans, he still found the closer it was to night, the more refreshed he felt.

Kevin supposed that should have applied to him less than most, being half human as he was, but after living in the beast kingdom for seven years. Well he guessed it just favoured one half over the other. But, for all he felt lethargic during the daytime, he wasn't any lazier than Hawk seemed to be. You'd think, being a nightblade as he was, Hawk would at least seem vaguely aware of his surroundings, but catch the guy at any time before late evening and he barely seemed awake. The thing was, Kevin was fairly certain Hawk would still be the fastest to react if they were attacked; he never understood how the man managed it.

Thinking on the topic more as he sauntered to the meeting room, which was again, inconveniently placed at the centre of the castle, it always seemed that Angela was most similar to Hawk. The Archmage seemed never to be awake in the morning and always seemed tired, even if she somehow had managed to brush her hair so not a single hair in those waves of purple seemed out of place. Kevin still didn't understand why she did that, he reckoned that had he been all human he would have found her spectacular even after three straight days in the wilderness. Duran and Lise by contrast were early birds, but then that was natural to them, they'd both been trained as soldiers. The first thing any general taught his soldiers was the value of a good night's rest, because they were rare as a dawn in the moonlight forest. Duran always seemed to pay attention to the way he looked, his armour was always polished, boots shining. Lise, she paid attention, but, whilst she hadn't seemed scruffy, so to speak, the way Lise looked seemed more, Kevin silently grasped for a good adjective, spontaneous, than Angela or Duran.

Pushing the door open, Kevin scanned the meeting room, half expecting to be the only one stuck dealing with the golden red mess that was the decoration. It was pleasantly surprising to see all his friends already waiting there for him. Or at least it should have been. He had sensed some tension between them after the incident in the cleft, but this, this he didn't understand. Hawk, Angela and Lise had all propped themselves up in separate corners of the room, seemingly having left Duran, who seemed a confused wreck to float in between them.

Kevin stifled a sigh; this was what happened when you mixed business and relationships. Admittedly he was just making an educated guess as to what had happened, but any other problem he could think of would have been patched up within a day at most and it would never be this bad. Now of course, he was going to have to deal with this and bear the brunt of it. Sometimes he wondered why he led these people; sometimes he wondered why he was the mana knight. He hadn't been born or raised a great leader and he sure as hell did not know how to deal with a situation like this. The only way was to launch right into it.

"We've been stuck here for a week. We've had no clues as to what to do next, the people of Forcena are loyal, but a week's worth of dallying can shake anyone's faith," Kevin lowered his hand to the table, "We need a plan and we need one now, otherwise, well otherwise before long we'll find that whoever's behind this will have set his in place so perfectly that we can't hope to stop it."

The silence in the room was deafening. It assaulted Kevin's ears, Angela should have started persuading them about her own plans, Hawk should have begun to quietly disagree with her. Instead there was nothing. Kevin didn't want to prompt them, he knew they wouldn't like that.

But even if suggesting ideas to them was bad, "Perhaps we should just all go back home," that response was even worse. Angela finally drew herself out of her corner, "We haven't achieved anything here, we have no clues, as Kevin so rightly pointed out. There is no trap, it would have been sprung already, we're being played for fools and at the moment, I don't know why I'm sitting here when for all I know Altena could be collapsing in on itself."

Kevin wanted to reply to her, but got interrupted before a word could leave his mouth, "I agree with Angie, there's no point in us being here if we don't have any idea of what to do next, we haven't been given a single clue," Hawk's voice reflected his demeanour, tired, instead of cheerful. "Knowing Navarre the place is falling apart without their beloved, 'Lord Hawk,' and whilst part of me would like to stick around for another month to catch up on sleep, that part of me didn't save the world seven years ago."

Kevin growled, "If we split apart now everything that we've done up till now, attempted to accomplish will be for nothing. Or have you forgotten what we saw in Pedan?" Kevin didn't like mentioning that, he knew it would hit them where it hurt though. "We saved the world together, as a team. We know this evil is here and it's not going to magically disappear. If we split up, it will be that much easier to pick us off one by one. Or do you think that separately you'll be harder to manipulate?" Kevin pointedly looked at everyone in the room, "Even with Lise's book smarts, Angela's knowledge of politics, even with every one of our skills combined this guy has run circles around us. Goddess we don't even know if it's actually a guy yet."

And then something strange happened, Angela looked across to Hawk, turned her gaze back to Kevin and didn't say a word. She just nodded and stepped back, with Hawk following her example. There was something going on that Kevin didn't understand, something he probably would never understand. But there was a time and a place for mulling over why people made the decisions they did. That place had a mattress.

"So we're back where we started then," murmured Lise from her side of the room, "We still need a plan and we still need to seem like we're actually doing something." She was right, for all things had been said, the problem they had still hadn't been addressed. "Now for all this will sound stupid, I think we should spend a little more time thinking about this." Lise looked around, she wasn't the shy version now, no, she was the battle hardened general, "I'll put this simply, we haven't taken the time to look at the similarities between all the events that have transpired over the past few weeks. We haven't tried to find a pattern, instead of planning like you say we should do, we've been sitting around waiting for our good little friend to drop us a clue and lead us blindly to the chopping block." Lise's eyes searched the room as if trying to find answers, "Frankly, I want to see."

Lise's began to withdraw into her crevace but as she did the doors behind Kevin slammed open, "Forcena is under attack!"

* * *

Angela hated running and for some reason she'd seen fit to wear heels today. The Goddess, that blasted faerie had to have it in for her. It wasn't that she hadn't become used to running around everywhere, no matter how inappropriate her garments were for the occasion. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd had to tell her servants that it was not convenient to see diplomats whilst she was in the bath. It was just that, compared to everyone else, she was the slow, fragile one. She knew it was ridiculous considering that she could clear an entire battlefield if she had the mana for it. But she had never enjoyed being physically weak, if you could call a battle hardened mana knight weak.

Still, she managed to get to the walls only a few seconds behind Duran who had been laden with the burden of carrying around plate armour every single day. Angela would have felt bad for him, but she did like how it looked on him. He was a handsome man, Duran, she never understood why he had trouble with the opposite gender.

As she slowed her pace, Angela ceased her musings over Duran's body and she looked along the walls for the rest of the team. Hawk, the cheating bastard, had started to move westwards down the wall, looking over it in what appeared to be horror. A part of her wanted him to trip and fall off the edge, unfortunately, another part of her wanted to get him alone and make sure he never so much as thought about another girl again.

But as much as she wanted to let molten fury take hold of her and blast Hawk into the holyland, something else had taken her attention, that being the swarm massing a few hundred metres away from the Forcenan walls. Angela immediately reached out for mana. It was thick here, thick by comparison to Altena at least, but then that was comparing a sheet of paper to a hair when she thought about how things had once been. Still, a good portion of that swarm there would soon be wondering whether freezing to death or being burnt to ashes was a better way to go.

Squinting at the swarm though, Angela noticed something. The way they moved, it was unnatural. Not that the idea of a swarm of enemies randomly appearing in the wilderness wasn't unnatural, but they seemed to meld with their surroundings. For lack of a better word, they blurred. Angela had seen this before. It had been the same on Pedan. Now she understood how that entire swarm had managed to disappear. They weren't ninjas at all, they were using magic. But that couldn't be right, if a swarm that large was using magic, there shouldn't have been mana to be found in a three mile radius. That's why she'd thought them to be ninjas to begin with. A fine puzzle, unfortunately, the fact that they looked ready to charge the walls meant that solving it had to take a backseat to preparing an explosion spell.

The mass rippled, Angela could feel the fear in the soldiers near her. She was a little scared herself, but that was natural, she'd seen too much, done too much to let it overtake her again. Just as soon as it was in range, half of those figures would be gone. Yet as she concentrated, she noticed another oddity. If an army this big had been prepared so quickly, why hadn't that attacked straight away instead of waiting for Forcena's defences to get ready. It made no sense, you didn't wait for your enemy, you cut their head off before it had a chance to tell the body what to do.

That was when Angela noticed something. As the mass marched, no, flowed forwards it was thinning. Not a single shot had been fire, yet she could but watch as the swarm melted away as they got closer and closer, but watch as guards lowered their bows and witnessed a legion melting to a century, a century turning to a single column and then finally dissolving to a single man. Yet for some reason he didn't disappear, yet another puzzle. Angela really didn't like all the puzzles being thrown at her. Yet this man struck her as a messenger for some reason which she couldn't fathom. Well actually, it was fairly obvious, a single man against five mana knights and a stronghold filled with soldiers wasn't very good odds. Still Angela held on to her explosion spell, he might need a blasting just for good measure.

As he approached the gates, Angela noticed that Kevin and the others were climbing down from the walls. Finding the nearest stairway and following suit Angela followed them whilst Kevin motioned for the gates to be opened. She was tempted to let go of her explosion, but she still didn't like the situation. Anyone powerful enough to create that many illusions, no matter how short lived was worth being careful around.

"Good to see you princess, you haven't changed a bit," she knew that voice. "I'd say it was sad to meet under such circumstances, but under any others I wouldn't be here." Angela began to aim her explosion directly at the figure, it couldn't be him. She'd seen him die, she'd killed him herself. "Oh please point that spell someplace else, you expect someone of my power not to notice it?" Angela didn't let go, this man warranted a blasting even more than Hawk did. "Fine, have it your way."

The figure slowly strode towards Kevin, fearless of the five mana knights standing directly in front of him, "The princess knows who I am and I'm guessing the king of this dirt pile has probably managed to guess himself." It couldn't be, he was lying, he couldn't have come back. "In case you'd forgotten, my name is Koren and I'm the wizard of the Red Lotus."

Angela cast her explosion.

Five seconds later and with a grinning Koren standing directly in front of her, Angela couldn't understand what had gone wrong. A crater the size of the cleft of the earth should have been where he was. "Angela, it's called a counterspell, if you had paid more attention in class I'm sure you would have learnt how to use them by now." Angela's eyes widened, but counterspells needed mana to work and she'd focused everything into that explosion. How had he done it. "Don't look so surprised dear, I was always better."

Angela was too shocked to be annoyed, too worried to get angry. "On to business, even though I think I could kill each and every one of you where you stand, my orders are not to harm you for some unfathomable reason." Koren chuckled, oh how she hated that chuckle, to think she'd felt sorry for him when he'd died, for lack of a better word, the first time. "Then again, the looks on your faces will be priceless." Koren's grin seemed to grow wider, Angela hated that grin, to think she'd thought him handsome once, "Forcena was a decoy."

Angela wanted to say something but Duran beat her to the punch, "What do you mean a decoy? You did everything in your power to stop us getting here, you lost a general doing it, why?"

Koren didn't chuckle this time, he laughed, "Jagan? A general? That urchin wasn't fit enough to lick my boots, no, we didn't do everything in our power to stop you, we just did enough to convince you that you were on the right trail. The question you've got to ask yourselves isn't why you're in Forcena, it's why you're not anywhere else in the world."

Angela still couldn't make head or tail of it, "What have you done to Navarre?" Hawk said through gritted teeth at which point the riddle became blindingly obvious.

"It was too easy, manipulating your dreams, drawing all of you away; it wasn't even that difficult to control that stupid priestess's visions. You see the goddess isn't as all powerful at the moment as you might like, she's only seven years old after all and it takes one thousand for her to truly transform. We just severed the link and replaced it with our own. And how you danced, oh it was precious, following our trail like lost puppies."

Koren placed his hands on his hips, drawing his shoulders back, "So here you are, in the only landlocked nation, with no way back. And all the while we ravage your homelands, I can still here the screams of the women and children," Koren licked his lips, "delicious."

Angela blinked.

Two daggers had appeared in Koren's stomach, another was slashing his throat. That smug grin had been replaced with a loot of horror as he clawed at his ruined throat. His face retained that look as he slumped to his knees, as he watched the daggers get wrenched out of his stomach and as he collapsed to the ground.

Once, Angela had felt sorry for Koren. That was a long time ago. Twice he'd taunted her with the death of her loved ones and twice he'd paid for his arrogance. It was nothing more than utter idiocy to think that they wouldn't kill the messenger, in fact it was idiocy to send a wizard as one to begin with.

As they walked back to the castle there was a silence amongst the mana knights, Angela knew they'd discuss this, but now, now wasn't the time. It took everything Angela had not to break down. Her friends and family in danger, her beautiful city in ruins.

She couldn't deal with it, she couldn't think about it, she needed him. Angela turned to him, but he wasn't there, he had left her again. For the first time in a long time Angela let go. She felt fury, she would make him pay for what he had done to her. Part of her wanted to blast him with a fireball then and there, but that wasn't her way. No, she'd hurt him in the same way he'd done to her. But she needed a plan.

But as she walked into the halls of Forcena castle, her plan walked straight in front of her. His gleaming armour, his perfect body, his long red hair. "You will do nicely," Angela whispered.

* * *

Hawk liked walking the corridors of the castle in the evening, Angela knew this, that's when they had been together most often. She knew he still did it, a few times she'd wanted to just happen to stumble into him, but no, that was weak. Hawk would come back to her, he'd beg for her to take him back. But of course, she wouldn't take him back right away, she'd make him work. Nobody slighted the queen of Altena in the way he had done.

Angela needed to time it perfectly. Hawk tended to leave him room just after sundown and he and Duran were living in rooms next to one another. She needed just enough time.

So as the sun began to roll behind the hills, bathing the hallways in a luxurious orange glow, Angela walked to Duran's room. Her top, well, she had assets and she needed to use them. Her skirt had never really been designed for polite company, but Hawk had earned Duran the right to see. Besides, Hawk wouldn't be looking at her from the front and he needed to know exactly what he was missing. The rest, that fell into place naturally. Just enough blush to make her seem that bit more upset, teardrops in her hair arranged to give the impression they had just fallen in place.

Angela strode out her room, safe in the knowledge that no man would be able to resist what she had to offer. Angela thanked the Goddess for her beauty. Life was easier when a mere smile and an encouraging pat on the cheek could get what you wanted.

All that was left was an object to infatuate. Angela reached Duran's door as the last rays of light winked out. Lamps were lit an hour before dusk, so roving servants weren't of concern to her. But with the way that servants talked, the more that saw her, the better.

A knock and for a single second Angela's heart fluttered. Duran had to be here, if he wasn't. "Good evening Ang-" Duran's voice stammered as he looked at the sight before him, no man could resist. "What brings you here this evening?" Duran had done well at composing his voice, but his face gave him away, "You know I like to sleep early."

"I'm sorry Duran, I didn't mean to disturb you," Angela always enjoyed feigning innocence, she didn't know why, but it had always been fun, "I" Angela paused, seemingly to collect herself, "I don't know what to do Duran," Angela closed the gap between the two of them, she could feel his breath, "My kingdom, my people, Duran my people could be dying and I'm powerless to stop it." Angela's hand ran onto Duran's chest, "You've always been so strong and I just need someone Duran."

Duran's voice softened as Angela felt his tree trunk of an arm wrap around her, "I'm always here for you Angela, you know that." And that was when Angela heard what she wanted, she felt the latches pulling away as the door to her left unlocked.

Angela's had wandered up, behind Duran's neck, "I didn't need just someone Duran. I needed you." Angela pulled an unresisting Duran towards her. She had expected him to be rough, but he wasn't, he was soft, gentle, completely unlike what she had come to expect. For a moment Angela lost her focus, for a moment, she was lost in the wonder.

That is until she realised what she was meant to be doing. He was there, he had watched the entire show. Breaking the kiss Angela shoved Duran backwards. Just because she was using Duran didn't mean she wasn't going to have fun with him. Giving a quick glance to Hawk, Angela smiled and strode into the room.

She hadn't lied, she had needed Duran, she had needed this. For an entire night she forgot about her responsibility, she forgot about her safety. But more importantly, for an entire night, she forgot about Hawk.

Response to Reviewers

I'm actually surprised with the numbers of reviews I got on this chapter, probably because I had to spend so long without writing

Witch Girl Pilar: Every time you think I'm dead and have given up, I come back to mess with you. I do hope you liked the villain in this chapter. I have a feeling you may be enjoying this chapter far too much actually…

Jdem: Porridge was actually a television series over here in Britain, it's widely thought of as one of the best sitcoms ever, though I really do appreciate your comments. I hope you enjoyed the way I've developed this chapter, no catfights just yet sadly.

Cleopatra Antoinette: Hawk is an idiot, Duran is an idiot, Angela is messing with everyone. Don't you just love ridiculously complicated love squares?

Michael S: SOM3 is in my opinion the best of the bunch if only because the combat system is generally better than that of its cousins and brothers. Plus you get real diversity with all the classes and combinations that are available. My choice of words is oftentimes too flowery, but I'm glad you like it.

HawkofNavarre: My punctuation is bad, note to self, deal with it. I really need a proof-reader, but then they'd get the story early and that isn't fair. Were I in Hawk's situation I'd be confused too for what it's worth. This chapter had a little less action than I would have liked, but such is life, a story must be told.

SilveryKitsune: My intention was for the battle scene to interrupt it. It's a nice way to make it seem to the reader that time has passed since the end of the previous scene and the beginning of the next one. You'll notice I couldn't do that in this chapter and as such it seems more rushed than I'd like. But I appreciate your sentiment, I'll try changing my chapter structure a bit so you don't get such a jarring interruption. Being a really hardcore gamer, game history is what I do best.

Toki: Now, I would respond to each review individually, but that would be silly. So I'll just go through all of it. Lise kissing other guys may seem out of character, but I reckon that a girl as attractive as her would have in a period of seven years, perhaps just out of curiosity. Duran's flirting, looking back I can see why that seemed forced. In retrospect I probably would have done that differently, less evidently perhaps. Finally, there hasn't been a catfight in this chapter, but Angie and Lise haven't actually talked to each other and your other question, well I can't answer that now can I?

Actual Rant

So let me put this simply, in my opinion this chapter is weaker than its predecessor. A lot happened to me as I wrote this chapter, so by my reckoning it doesn't flow as well. Also, because the previous chapter was planned from the beginning, well, I had a better structure and idea. Still, as a whole, this one is still better than the early stuff I did, every time I write a new chapter it's really easy to see how far along I've come in the past 2 years. I did enjoy writing the last bit of this chapter, the whole Angela manipulating people idea is something I've wanted to build on, but haven't really had a chance to since her first meeting with Duran. Also, I did enjoy bringing Koren back, because he's really significant in Angela's life. The Kevin bit at the beginning was good fun to write since I liked developing his character into areas most people wouldn't ordinarily associate with Kevin.

For the record, university life is busy as hell, so getting chapters off during term time is unlikely. Instead I'm going to try to get you another one before the end of Christmas, so stay tuned. Also remember guys, no matter what I will keep writing this story, it will get finished. So just favourite it on your profiles and when I do finally get round to updating you'll have an idea, instead of having to check the page for two straight months.

As always I'm going to beg you guys to keep reviewing, if you loved it, tell me why you loved it. If you hated it, tell me what you hated. I've been getting some really good feedback and I'm going to try to improve as a writer as much as possible so I can do justice to the awesome job that you guys have been doing in reading and reviewing this thing.

Free invisible, intangible ice cream sandwiches for anyone who reviews.


	19. As Cold as Ice

Cold as Ice

Duran's boots sunk into the snow. Oh how he hated the snow. To be fair, usually when snow came to Forcena for a few days every year, Duran couldn't help but be lifted by its silent charm, turning the land to a blissful white. Of course there he was usually sitting beside a warm fire, not freezing to death in armour that was far too heavy for the weather. In retrospect he should have just brought scale armour with him, but he just didn't feel right without that weight on him, far too much like a duelist. Whilst his new power was refreshing, he still didn't feel right attempting to be offensive, that wasn't the paladin's way. There was never any need for it, Kevin and Hawk had that area covered in spades, making sure that fireball that would knock them for six hit him instead of anyone else was his job. It was a painful one to be sure, but he didn't see anyone else running around with newly fashioned armour and a magic resistant shield.

Unfortunately, now, heavy armour just helped him sink faster and sinking was not fun when it left you knee deep in the freezing cold. He used to wonder why an Altenan girl like Angela would wear such, well he had to say it, delightfully, skimpy clothing when she came from a continent that was almost always perpetually covered in ice. The answer seemed obvious now, flaunting the fact that you had mana powered heating was probably a great way to impress stupid foreigners as you silently beggared them for everything they were worth.

Altenans were crafty like that but he didn't like thinking of Angela that way. He had before, now, it just didn't seem right, not after the way she'd come to him that night. He'd never seen her more vulnerable and she'd come to him, not Hawk, not Kevin, him. He still couldn't believe that, not just that she'd come to him, but that entire night. In fact he couldn't believe the past week, she was relentless. Not that he was growing tired of it, he wasn't, but the fact that she even had vague feelings for him was shocking.

Unfortunately, the way events had panned out meant that a repeat of that night in Forcena was somewhat unlikely. Especially considering he didn't think anyone knew of their relationship. So Duran had to make do, like he did with virtually every single relationship in his life, with a kiss and a cuddle here and there as and when Angela decided that she was in the mood. Oh the princess, well, queen, he always saw her as a princess, was in the mood often enough. But sometimes he'd be left with a kiss on the cheek where he was sure his lips were warranted. It was probably just some weird form of Altenan courtship, all he knew is that when he did get what he wanted, well, he performed far beyond his normal expectations. For all the cold got at him and for all the world was falling apart around him, at least something was going vaguely in his favour.

Yet his thoughts wandered from his Altenan delight. She was bobbing through the snow ahead of him without the slightest trouble. To his surprise earlier that day, Angela actually had clothing suited to the cold weather. Somehow she managed to make mittens seem risqué. Not that he didn't like it, but sometimes he wished more of those clothes were reserved specifically for him.

His thoughts meandered back to the cold in his toes and what he could swear was frostbite. Duran consoled himself, they'd reach Altena castle soon. Even without mana the place was meant to be an oven. By the time Angela had announced the waning of mana, Altenan engineers had been swarming over the entire city trying to establish a heating system of sorts which didn't rely on the queen using her magical power to heat everything. He wondered if they'd succeeded.

It didn't really matter though, by the time he actually got inside the city he was fairly certain he'd be in a situation where he wouldn't notice the cold. The plan was simple really. Angela knew of secret passages in Altena that led from inside the walls to the throne room. Whilst she sneaked through there and rallied her people from inside the castle, he alongside his friends would attack from without. Getting into the walled city would have been a hard part, but his beautiful, ever wise, archmage had made sure there were tunnels that went underneath them that were only known to her and the people who had constructed them. Of course, it just so happened that the engineers had been exiled as soon as the work was done, or at least that's what Duran was told had happened to them.

Angela claimed to have wanted the tunnels so she was never locked outside her city again but really they doubled as a method of getting supplies into the city during a siege. By the time Altena was ready to crack most enemies; in fact all enemies would have given up and gone home. Of course, that benefit was largely irrelevant for the moment. Five people laying siege to a city would be rather ridiculous after all, even if they were mana knights.

Duran grunted as an entire leg disappeared in the snow. It wasn't really the snow that irritated him though. It was the knowledge that a lot of the people he was going to fight today would probably just be normal Altenan citizens. They didn't know what they were fighting for, they didn't know what was right or wrong, they just did what they were told. The sad part was, Duran was almost certain that their blood would be on his hands by the end of the day. He didn't want to kill them, he didn't want to harm a hair on their head, but in the end, it was for the greater good. Duran sighed, so many horrors could be justified with that excuse and continued to pray. Perhaps they might only be knocked out.

It wasn't as if he hadn't made sacrifices himself though, abandoning Forcena, again. It probably wasn't the wisest idea, but he'd warned virtually every noble in the land that they might be attacked at any moment. He suspected they wouldn't be. The person who was orchestrating this must have expected them to have been stuck in Forcena otherwise he would never have gone to all of the effort taking out the bridge over the cleft of the earth. That seemed logical now, that fool Koren had divulged enough for Hawk to have pieced together a lot of the plan.

Hawk had been acting strangely recently, he was probably jealous or at least Duran thought that was it. Yet for some reason he didn't sense any real resentment from Hawk towards him. He couldn't understand it. Still, the man was as sharp as ever, Koren had mentioned the word landlocked and even before Hawk had rather coldly disposed of the wizard, he'd latched straight onto that word. The plan had been to simply lead them to Forcena, trap them there and take over the rest of the world while they were stuck. Koren had basically explained that much himself but Hawk had used that to find out exactly what Jagan's purpose had been. Without a bridge they couldn't leave Forcena and without dwarfs in the cleft to rebuild it, well they'd be stuck there a very, very long time.

Of course, Duran had seen the first flaw in their opponent's plan the moment Hawk mentioned this. He had assumed they'd be stuck in Forcena. He'd assumed they had no way back. Unfortunately for him and for the light warriors, he was wrong. Bon Voyage's ridiculous cannons weren't just marooned in Maia. Admittedly that was the only place were people were insane enough to actually use them on a regular basis, but it didn't mean that his cannons hadn't travelled the world. In fact, Duran recalled that this was the second one to have ever been built. It didn't really give him the greatest confidence in the thing. But it was made by Bon Voyage, he never had confidence in it to begin with.

Fortunately Bon Jour, whilst still wearing the ridiculous garb and possessing the dwarf-like stature of his brother was vastly more competent in every way. He actually remembered who they were, he actually was glad to see them again and most importantly, he actually sent them to the right damn place. Duran sighed, Bon Voyage frustrated him, he never quite understood that family. All the girls were beautiful intelligent women and all the guys were dwarf-men with a terrible fashion sense and most of them were utterly insane. Still, Bon Jour was competent at least, Duran couldn't understand how the man knew the exact direction and elevation to send them to Elrand, but he did and Duran for what it was worth was very grateful for it. Perhaps he deserved a knighthood. Duran imagined Bon Jour in plate armour. Perhaps not.

Duran hadn't been keeping track of their progress through the snowfield. With all the dead ends and snow shifts it was hard enough for a native to know exactly where they were. Besides the snow in his boots had garnered his full attention. But you didn't have to be a master tracker to know you were close to a city when you could see its castle in the distance. Upon that realisation Duran did two things, he picked up his pace ever so slightly and thanked the goddess for not letting him freeze to death.

For what it was worth though, even if it did suffer from the worst weather Duran could imagine, Altena had always been a beautiful city. If he was being honest with himself, its architecture was nicer than that of Forcena. In Forcena everything was made of solid brick and stone. Yet Altena, Altena had marble, stained glass, slate roofing. Had it not been filled to the brim with manipulative wizards, Duran might have liked it more. Then again, Duran did happen to rather enjoy the company of a specific manipulative wizard. But she was better than the rest somehow. Duran trusted her, with more than just his life.

Of course Duran was confused when they stopped heading towards the castle but away from it. Duran didn't want to go away from the city, the city might be warm, at least the streets wouldn't be covered in leg deep snow. Of course Duran did eventually realise that they were heading towards the tunnels, but he might have preferred a frontal assault against the walls over spending a second more in the snow than he had to.

Duran had never paid any mind to the wooded area they walked into, just beside Altena castle.. The Altenans had basically just left it alone since for centuries they had had no dire need for wood beyond furniture. With the vast stone supplies hidden in the ice labyrinths, they'd never really needed it for building and with the queen using mana to heat the kingdom, well they hadn't needed it for firewood either. Of course, now the forest was being worked on, Altena needed the wood now, with their stone supply infested with monsters and their heat source waning.

"We started cutting into the forest about a year after I got into power," Angela's voice almost startled Duran, he'd become used to the silence, peace with his own thoughts. "In my fourth some woodsmen stumbled across these," Duran looked up, there was water, but that wasn't possible, it was freezing out. Duran blinked, he could see steam. "Needless to say, the Altenan people don't know about these hot springs. I made sure those woodsmen would never tell." Angela smiled, Duran didn't know what to think of that smile, part of it was mischievous, another scared him half to death. "A Queen needs somewhere to spend time alone, "Preferably with soap and hot bathwater." Angela nodded to the small cabin by the springs, "But it struck me, if we were to heat all of Altena again, then why not pipe the water from here to the city? And it also struck me that if tunnels were going to be made anyway, why not use them for my own devices." Angela smiled that same ambiguous smile, grabbing onto a chain perfectly camouflaged in the snow, "The engineers had no idea what they were in for." She laughed and hauled the trap door open.

Angela sauntered slightly to the left of the trap door and to Duran's surprise took up another chain. With a creak another hole was opened. "This is where we split. That tunnel," she said gesturing to the one she had opened first, "leads inside the city, you'll show up just behind the blacksmith's. They'll probably have guards on patrol so it shouldn't be very difficult to get their attention." Angela giggled slightly; he'd never seen her do that before, he couldn't understand why, "I don't need to tell you where this one leads."

Angela didn't say another word and just stood there watching as the others hopped into the tunnel, disappearing into the pristine white sheet of snow. Duran was the last man in because of his armour and he turned to the opening.

"Duran, wait!" Duran turned when he heard the shout. Angela was still there, she easily hopped across the snow to him, "Please, be careful, I don't want you to get yourself killed, I'd be very angry about that."

"Don't worry my beautiful queen, I'll be fine," Duran smiled as Angela glanced away from him, "Just get all the help," Angela silenced him with a kiss. It wasn't long, but Duran didn't care, anything from her was worth treasuring.

Slowly Angela pulled away and let him warm in her smouldering eyes, before silently edging away and then running into her tunnel. Turning Duran thought of an excuse as to why it had taken him so long to get into the tunnel, getting stuck in the snow would probably be fine. Goddess knew, it had happened enough times today.

As Duran hauled himself into the hole, he peered down the tunnel to find that most of it was already lit and that there was a Navarrian in front of him, "The others have gone ahead, but they're not that far down yet. What took you?"

"Got stuck in the snow, again," Duran feigned a grumble, it was hard to actually grumble after that.

Hawk's smile wavered slightly, "I'll bet. Hate the snow myself, far too cold, far too wet. Come on, we don't have much time." Hawk padded off down the tunnel and Duran followed as quickly as he could. It was warm in here, he could actually move, things were finally starting to shift in his favour.

It didn't take long for him to find the others grouped at the other end. No words were said, it was insulting to even think that they were unprepared in any way. Besides, a plan of burst into the city and beat up as many guards as possible wasn't exactly the most difficult scheme to follow.

Kevin disappeared up the trap door hidden inside what seemed to be a tool shed set up behind the armoury. Hawk followed, with Lise tailing him as closely as she could without tripping him up. Duran was the last man out, he had to be cautious in battle, if any of them got hurt he had to protect them and more importantly, he had to heal them.

And there it was, a shout as a guard got punched into a wall. Kevin was not pleased today, he was more aggressive than Duran had seen in a long time. Duran was actually surprised at the number of foot soldiers Angela had managed to muster in such a short time period. He could count at least twenty who all must have been simply on guard duty in this area. Of course that didn't really bode all that well for them.

His friends had begun to spread out, Hawk was busy confusing four guards at once. Duran had never seen a split-image slice where the illusions didn't attack, but apparently Hawk could make it happen. Of course Hawk wasn't trying to kill these guards, they were innocent victims, so instead of the spurts of blood Duran was oh so used to seeing, he just watched as the hapless Altenans fell to the ground unconscious.

Lise was having a more difficult time, or at least it appeared to be so. As her spear whirled, the end catching one of the guards in the back of the head before swinging back in the other direction and catching another in the stomach, a guard actually landed a hit on her. But Lise ignored him, she just kept fighting, seemingly ignorant of the guards attempting to stab her in the back. Duran couldn't understand why, but then it became clear. For all the wild slashes that actually hit her, they didn't matter, was A blunt shortsword would never penetrate armour blessed by the goddess herself.

Content then that his friends didn't really need his assistance, Duran began considering his own offence. Unfortunately, his offensive power had always been comparatively pitiful, he needed saint sabre and that wouldn't work on guards who weren't evil. He needed something else. Duran smiled. He had something else, what was better is that it wouldn't even waste mana. He was convinced he could do this, he was sure, if he just concentrated. Duran didn't understand what then did, he reached out, he reached out far beyond the mana that he could feel around him and clutched blindly in the darkness. It was there, the strength, it rushed into him, he drew more and more until he might explode. Instead though, it seeped into his sword, the lightning, the fire, he didn't have a blade any more, he had pure power.

"Chaos sabre."

Duran heard the footsteps behind him. Trying to be silent with metal boots was like trying to walk down the Golden Road without seeing yellow paving stones. He swivelled on his left boot bashing his shield against the side of his hapless adversaries head. As he fell to the side Duran noticed that the guard had brought a friend. Unfortunately he was rather taken aback by how quickly Duran's first victim had been dispatched. His hesitation sealed his fate, Duran lunged and in the blink of an eye the man was screaming on the floor as the searing heat and vicious cold of the blade cut through his armour like a knife through butter.

Duran felt sympathy, but only for a moment, he had a job to do, so did the man lying in front of him. Unfortunately, Duran was very good at his job.

Duran scanned the area around him, with the unlimited power at his fingertips Duran didn't feel guilty about throwing a heal light to Kevin and Lise. They didn't really need it, but he supposed they would appreciate the help, or at least, appreciate the fact that they had one or two fewer bruises to worry about. Besides these spells didn't seem to wear him down any more than his normal ones, he felt he had at least twenty more heal lights in him, if not more.

Duran smiled when he saw more of Angela's little boys running at him. He supposed the elite guard would be in the castle guarding whichever idiot had managed to seize control of the city. But Duran didn't have to worry about them, the moment they saw Angela was the moment the city was retaken. No man would disobey orders from his queen, the idea was just unthinkable.

There were three of them this time. If they had been battle hardened veterans Duran might have been concerned. Unfortunately they weren't, they were young men, in all likelihood a couple had only shaved their faces twice in their lifetime. Their rush, it was passionate at the very least, but it lacked any finesse. Duran backed up against a wall and raised his shield.

The Duran felt the first impact, then the second and a third. Bracing himself, Duran summoned all of his strength and pushed. They staggered back and again their surprise was their downfall. They shouldn't have been worrying about how one man could overpower three, they shouldn't have been worrying about what they had done wrong.

Duran never felt the impact of his blade, he never felt any difference between air and flesh, between flesh and bone. But when he looked back he saw three men, silent men and three sets of legs that were no longer attached to them. They should have been worrying about the sword that just cut them in two.

* * *

Angela pushed open the trap door with her staff, propping it up with the hook provided. She'd made sure that people could open the trap door without slamming it. It was closely guarded secret after all and needed to be kept that way.

As she clambered out the tunnel Angela made sure the room was empty, nobody did use the closet on the east wing of the castle, none of the guest quarters were there and the east wing was frequented so rarely that it hardly ever needed cleaning. Or at least, not enough to warrant the servants actually keeping any supplies here.

Angela knew that she'd have to get to the knight's quarters and rally them as well as the more powerful wizards in order to follow through on her part of the plan, but another part of her wanted to get straight to the throne room so she could rip whichever idiot who had taken her castle and her city apart with the biggest rainbow dust spell she could muster.

Sadly though ripping apart was a lower priority and as Angela opened the door she went over the fastest route to the quarters where the queen's guard were stationed. Fortunately because of the space in the east wing they'd been housed very close to it in case the quarters ever needed to be expanded. Angela prided herself on her organisation and her castle, she had a contingency for everything and a backup plan if that failed. Somehow though, that still hadn't stopped her losing everything inside a month.

She couldn't understand that, how had everything fallen apart? There must have been a traitor on the inside since the Altenan people wouldn't take a foreign invasion lying down. No, they trusted and liked her. Somebody must have tricked them, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out exactly who. In fact she couldn't figure out how they had managed to avoid her security checks or her own intuition for that matter.

Angela's trip through the corridors had been a blissfully uneventful one. She'd been terrified of having to kill one of her own people, she didn't want to do that. The diversion must have been working a treat, servants were to hide in the living quarters in case of an attack and the palace guards would probably have all been pulled up to the guard room for new orders.

Angela smiled, she did love it when a plan came together, even more so when said plan was entirely her own. Angela didn't know how she did it sometimes, beauty, brains and a fireball which would put any wizard to shame. On top of that she was royalty, she may have let Duran have too much when she thought about it. A kiss would have been enough to make Hawk jealous and even if he did have a nice body he still probably didn't deserve everything she had to offer. Such was life though, sometimes you made miscalculations.

What she hadn't miscalculated was her route, she had arrived at the guard room door in the half the time it would usually take. Making sure she appeared as good as ever, Angela slammed the door open and was greeted by stares of surprise, shock and in one case, complete and utter horror.

Angela did like making an entrance.

"Hello boys, now some of you may have been informed of my departure or," Angela paused, staring at every man in the room, "demise. As you can see by the beautiful figure that stands before you, such rumours are blown vastly out of proportion," Angela ran her hands up from her sides to her hips just for emphasis. "As the rightful Queen of Altena and safe in the knowledge that since I handpicked each and every one of you, all your previous orders are now void. Is that understood?"

Angela was greeted by silence, followed by nodding. These men, they were well trained, making a noise right now was sure to draw attention to them. "Currently my friends are on the outside of this castle fighting for their lives. Your mission is a simple one, gather every guard and soldier in this castle, go outside and persuade your comrades that their one true Queen is alive and quite well. In fact," Angela smiled, "better than ever."

Angela noticed one of her guard captains, Lamel, was his name, "Captain Lamel," Lamel looked surprised at being given orders and hopped to attention like a new recruit in front of a sergeant for the first time, "You are in charge of this operation, see that it goes to my liking."

For all Lamel had been surprised his face assumed a stony calmness, "Yes my liege," was his reply as he bowed for her.

"I shall be going directly to the throne room, none of you are to accompany me, the powers at work here are far beyond any of your skills," perhaps even beyond her own.

"Good luck gentlemen, make me proud." With that Angela turned on her heel, hearing the audible murmurs as Lamel gave out his orders. Technically going to the throne room and confronting whoever was responsible for this was not part of the initial plan. But if she'd told her friends they'd have wanted to accompany her and she couldn't have that, she needed them out there, making as big a distraction as possible.

Besides, this wasn't just about the plan as a whole, this was about her pride. Whichever bastard had taken over her castle, had turned her people against her, that bastard was going to pay for every insult, he was going to bleed for every step in these halls. Angela was going to rip whoever had done this limb from blasted limb and fireball them till there was nothing left. She was going to make them wish they had never been born.

Angela kicked open the door to the throne room and stopped,

"Mother?"

Her mother's look of scorn and sick pleasure made Angela shudder. Suddenly Angela's rage wasn't there any more, her utter fury had fizzled and she felt something very strange. Angela felt fear.

"Oh Angela, it's so good to see you, all of Altena thought you were dead," all her spite seemed to be focused on that word, "not that that was a bad thing to be fair. With you out the picture my dearest daughter retaking Altena was a very, very simple task."

Finally Angela managed to gasp out a sentence, "You, you're not my mother, my mother, she's."

"Dead? Oh no dear, I'm not dead, I'm quite alive and I can finally save Altena from the mess you've made of it," she smiled, it was a confident smile, she knew she had the upper hand here.

"Mess what mess? I've been the best ru-"

"Accepting the loss of mana, not finding an alternate source," Angela my darling daughter you've been doing everything wrongly." Angela winced, only her mother would bother with miniscule grammatical points, Angela had spent her entire childhood being corrected like that. "Thankfully Dorothy here had the sense to have our dear lord bring me back and supply me with this."

Dorothy? Wait where was she? Angela didn't feel anything, she didn't feel the loss in mana, but a fireball flew from nowhere at her. She dove, feeling the heat as it exploded against the fall behind her. "What?" Angela stuttered, "How?"

"Oh Angela, you always give up," her mother, no, Valda, this wasn't her mother, her mother wouldn't do this, her mother loved her, she knew that, "you just sat there and accepted your fate when you could have had so, so much more." Slabs of the floor tiles ripped themselves and lanced at her. Angela tried to avoid them, desperately pivoting in her place to get out the way. Angela screamed. Her leg was bleeding. She couldn't move. But where was Dorothy?

"You were always a stupid, insolent little child," Valda had begun to glide forwards, she'd already spanned half the distance to Angela, "Too spoilt to understand your responsibilities." The air itself turned against her, a wind of razors cut her, scratching and slicing. She couldn't stop it, she couldn't move. Where was Dorothy?

Angela looked up, her vision was blurred, Valda towered over her. "You were never fit to be my daughter." Angela felt a kick to her stomach.

"No mother!" A kick, the air rushed out of her.

"Please, stop," A kick, her eyes widened.

"Please, I worked," A kick, she felt a crack.

"No, I love you." A kick, Angela felt her vision going.

A kick, Dorothy, she had to find Dorothy. A kick, Dorothy was there. A kick, she was behind the statue.

Angela screamed, it wasn't a scream of fear or terror, it was one of primal fury. A kick, Angela couldn't see the statue explode, but she felt it. A kick, Angela's eyes closed.

Writer's Rants

Response to reviewers

Fewer than last time, but then I don't really blame ya, this one only took me 3 weeks.

HawkofNavarre: You see I don't feel all that sorry for Duran . But I do enjoy this chapter and the fact that it does have its fair share of action and cliff-hangers. Oooh we love those.

Cleopatra Antoinette: We just got to see exactly what's happened to Duran, to be honest this chapter was more about elaborating on that and the second bit than about the relationships, I'm saving that. You comment about Lise is useful because I notice I've somewhat neglected Hawk and her since they're little chapter in the cave. So I'm pretty sure you can expect them in the next chapter.

Meerf: I thought it was natural for Kevin to take the lead being the mana knight as he is. Also, I do like immoral Angela myself, I kinda feel she needed to be pushed this way before she could actually do that considering that she's naturally a goodly archmage in my fic.

Sinnatious: You know, to have someone you've idolised for a rather long time show up out of nowhere and review your fic is really brilliant. Call me a fanboy, but that's my take on it. I paid a lot of mind in this chapter to the random time jumps, the way it panned out was better than the last one I think since it meant I could effectively put in a double cliffhanger.

Hawk's a nightblade in this one so impulsive throat slashing is more his thing than it was before. I still rather enjoyed that part. And Kevin's speech was partly convenience and partly good for plot as it shows how he's matured over the years.

GreaterDemon: Everyone wants to kill each other because….. alright I can't say why. And it being partially a romance story means the love not war part is kinda important.

Actual Rant

I really really liked this chapter, it's slightly shorter than the previous ones but it's tighter and I think it flows better. I also tried to mix up my usual plot, action, plot pattern and I really think that worked out since it makes the chapter seem faster whilst still imparting what I wanted to be done in terms of both main story and romantic arc. Writing Duran was particularly fun as it was effectively like writing down what I'd been thinking for a couple of weeks, the feeling of being on top of the world and just blissful in your ignorance of the fact that this is all based on very little. (Yes relationship issues in real life, again!) I also really did love the last part of the story, just the thought of a mother kicking her own daughter like that, it's really sickening and I'll be damned if I don't like writing stuff like that. Of course that probably won't happen for a while since I'm back at uni which buggers over the next chapter for a while. I shall endeavour to PM you guys if I update through the reviews system and if you wish, favourite the story.

As always, I love people who review my fic, whether it be a good review, a solid, I'm here and reading or just a review which points out all the little flaws in my story, I don't care, please review because I want to be a better writer. If you've read the story, just review it.

Remember kids free invisible intangible pet mutant mice with lasers for all those who review.


	20. The Dinner Table

The Dinner Table

It wasn't possible. How was she alive? Lise didn't understand, but right now, Lise didn't care. All she knew was that she had to act or her friend was going to die. Screaming, Lise threw her spear. It wasn't something she had practiced, it wasn't something she ever did, but regardless, it flew true, striking deep at the heart of her target.

Or it should have, the amazon could only watch in horror as her spear entered her opponent's chest and proceeded to pass through her target. Lise felt the tip slam into the wall in front of her and once again, she was helpless. There wasn't enough mana to summon Marduke, there wasn't even enough of the bloody stuff to cast a damned speed up.

And to add insult to injury, Valda never even dignified her with a response, content to jam her toe into Angela's stomach again. Yes she was unarmed, yes she had no magic, but goddess, that was her friend lying there, no, fuck it, her best friend and she wasn't going to let her die.

Lise started running, sprinting towards the Queen of Reason. She didn't know what she was going to do, but anything was better than nothing. Or at least she didn't until Valda finally raised her head. The star lancer felt a block of stone hit her square in the legs as another smashed into the back of her head.

Her vision only left her for a moment, but when it returned she found herself next to Angela. Valda was there, driving her foot into Angela with every ounce of power her body could muster. Angela, she had to be bleeding, she couldn't take more of this.

The amazon began to crawl, dragging herself to her friend. She wasn't going to let Angela get hurt any more. She was tired, tired of being the helpless one who always ended up just supporting her friends. For once one of them needed her protection and for once in her wretched life she wouldn't let them down.

Lise crawled onto Angela. The even rhythm of the kicks stopped, just for a moment. It was as if her aggressor was considering just what to do. Lise howled as the boot drove into her spine. Goddess, how had Angela survived this, Lise could feel her back giving way as another kick struck her, she didn't scream this time, she couldn't. The pain, she tried not to focus on it, oh how she tried.

"Angela I'm so," Lise winced as she felt blood being drawn, "sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, I," Lise's voice reduced to a whisper, she couldn't take much more, "Hawk and I," Lise finally lost her voice. She didn't want to die this way, she didn't want her friend to die hating her. But she was foolish to ever think she could choose the way in which she died.

The star lancer clutched onto the archmage tighter, she would give Angela a chance, she-

The ground next to Lise exploded.

Lise woke up in a cold sweat. That explosion had been Hawk, again. Lise rolled out of her bed, almost unaware of the rhythmic rolling of the cabin. She was happy she didn't get seasick, whoever had constructed this ship must have either been blind or had a stomach wrought of iron. Lise didn't really like her cabin either, it was cramped and smelled like something nasty had died in it. That however, was the price they had to pay. Whoever had been controlling them knew their position most of the time. If they pretended to be civilians, well they might just be able to slip off the radar.

Lise knew what she was doing, distracting herself. The star lancer sighed, bad dreams happened, but this regularly? But it wasn't the pain or the fact that it was Angela's mother that was upsetting her, it wasn't even that she'd almost died.

She had been helpless, again. Lise didn't know why that annoyed her. It should have been nice to have a knight in shining armour. But then, the star lancer looked in the mirror, she looked more like a knight than Hawk did.

It wasn't that she didn't like the idea that Hawk might actually care about her, she did, but it had never been like this before. Seven years ago her friends had been almost utterly reliant on her powers to keep them from being overwhelmed. Now, she could barely cast a defence up without draining all the mana in the area. So now what happened whenever an enemy like Valda showed up? She made a fool of herself and was then forced to cheer from the sidelines as the nightblade cleared up for her.

It was frustrating more than anything else, unfair that everything she'd aspired to was for nothing. It made her just want to summon Marduke onto a swarm of enemies and see the results. Now those were not the thoughts of a responsible amazon, Marduke would not be happy.

But Lise hadn't heard from Marduke for a long time, she hadn't used him in a long time. She hoped her old friend was alright. She didn't know how the loss of mana would affect him, but a little part of her thought he'd be fine. Yes, she needed mana to summon Marduke, but he himself lived on a different plane to them. Or at least that was what she thought. At least, if an entire underworld could exist on a different plane, her theory was entirely feasible.

Still, Lise knew she was distracting herself again. She wanted to talk to Hawk about it, but after the cave, no, she couldn't do that, not yet. Not with all of that still there, glaring at them. If that hadn't been there, she would have been talking to Hawk a lot more. But she knew she couldn't. The moment she did, well she'd be on a slippery slope. Her responsibility was to her people, if that meant sacrifice on her part, she was all too happy to partake in it.

Yet for some reason fate saw fit to throw Hawk together with her at every possible occasion, it had been agreed between the five of them that to maintain secrecy, each was only able to talk to two of the others on the ship. That way the passengers wouldn't be clued onto the two women guarded by muscular guys. This inevitably, had seen her get paired with Kevin and a certain Navarrian.

Lise sighed as she began to run a brush through her hair. Being in disguise however, meant that she was limited to a few quick licks instead of her usual routine and this was wreaking havoc on her blonde locks. Lise was used to it, yes, amazon training was tough enough that you'd count yourself lucky to have water to wash your hair let alone a brush, but that still didn't mean she didn't like to keep it neat. Then again, she probably wouldn't have worried so much about it a few months ago.

The star lancer left her cabin with a creak as the door swung shut before making her way to the rather modest eating area that was in place. The ship wasn't too big so it really wasn't much of a walk, although she almost managed to bash her head against one of the supports. She couldn't understand how Duran or Kevin hadn't suffered brain damage by now, it must have been hard to crouch down every single corridor.

Another little problem was that Hawk seemed to blend in far too well with the denizens of their passenger ship, so when Lise did sit down at a table, she had to sit and wait, looking like some lovesick idiot waiting for him to show. It would be nice for a change if the man arrived on time. For some reason he had set this meeting despite his renowned inability to wake up in the morning.

Lise was somewhat relieved when the cowled figure of Hawk sat down in front of her. Lise gave him a quick smile as he drew his hood back. That blasted man, she had to spend hours making herself look good and for some insane reason even after an all nighter he looked as handsome as ever. Or at least, Lise assumed he hadn't slept, if he had, he'd probably still be asleep by now.

"We're in luck, Mirana's been working her magic with the captain and we're probably going to be taken directly to the Moonlight river instead of Maia."

Lise really did try not to roll her eyes, she really did. The only thing Angela or Mirana as she was known on this trip ever did with those men was smile and pat them on the back. Yet for some reason a captain would change his route and suffer angry passengers just for that. Obviously Angela hadn't highlighted this little detail, but Lise sometimes wished she knew how her friend did it.

"That's good, we might be able to catch them unprepared this way." The nightblade had drawn a map from his pocket, where he'd found it was beyond her but Lise shuffled to his side to take a look, "We'll have to take a riverboat up to Mintos I guess?

Hawk smiled, turning his head to face her, "Yeah, with a little luck it won't be that crowded, we might finally be able to get a bit of rest."

"Oh, so what do you call lounging around in Forcena then?" Lise asked wryly.

"That, that's work, all the politics, all the getting ready for meals, wearing a shirt in the morning. I can't stand that. This on the other hand will be a lot quieter. From what I remember, it's quite a serene view anyway, even with the forest teaming with monsters." Hawk seemed to be relishing the prospect, "Plus, with the money I've acquired on this boat ride of ours, I won't have to work all night."

Lise frowned, Hawk knew she didn't like him stealing, "You know, you really don't have to do that any more. You have the coffers of all of Navarre at your fingertips." Lise realised she shouldn't have let Navarre's name slide, she was too careless sometimes.

Hawk chuckled, "Alice how do you think we fill those coffers?"

The amazon gave Hawk a flat look, but she left it at that. She couldn't change him, as much as she might want to sometimes.

"Besides, it's all practice anyway, you wouldn't want to see me miss a shuriken toss now would you?" Hawk grinned at her, Lise never quite understood why, but she always felt better when he did that.

"Oh no, the great Leo throwing something clean over his opponent's head would be most embarrassing, I can see the look on your face now," Lise tried to imitate what she had imagined, but she got the feeling she looked like an idiot doing it.

Of course that was also when she realised she had been toying with Hawk's hand for the past minute. The Cleft, that, was the last time they'd said anything worthwhile to each other. She should have spoken to him earlier, she should have said something. But she couldn't, he would distract her, it would harm the group, she'd be letting down her people. Lise knew all of her excuses off by heart now, in the end it was simple. She was just scared.

"Hawk," Lise whispered, she couldn't call him Leo now, "where's this going?"

* * *

Hawk had been waiting for that, he'd been dreading it. Yes he liked Lise, a lot, but he just didn't know what he felt about anything any more. Part of him still liked Angela, part of him was hurt that she was with Duran, another part annoyed. Part of him wanted to kiss Lise right now and not worry about anything else.

Hawk did the only thing he could, he ran.

"We'll talk tomorrow Alice," Hawk smiled at her, he liked her, he wanted her, yet, "Bye beautiful."

Hawk strolled, or at least, tried to stroll from the table.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. Relationships, relationships had never really bothered him, he met a girl, he liked her, they had fun and it was over. That was how he had lived his life, he'd gone round the world, saved Navarre, class changed twice and he'd still left her at the end of it.

But this was different, Lise. They'd kissed in Rolante, true, but she was his friend, he trusted her more than anyone, he would willingly give up his own life for hers.

So why had he walked away?

Hawk didn't know where he was walking to in reality. He had another meeting at the same table. But he couldn't go back, not now. He needed time to think, space to breathe.

Hawk slammed the door of his cabin open and sat down on the edge of the bed. What was wrong with him? He knew how he felt about her, he knew where he wanted it to go and he'd run away. He'd hurt her, he knew it and here he was saying he'd lay down his life for her. Hawk felt insulted by his very existence.

The ship rolled, Hawk muttered, he would be depressed and seasick if this kept up. His room was fairly cramped to be fair, a long time ago he wouldn't have minded so much but now, even a mid price cabin seemed small. But, at least they'd managed to avoid detection. A blind enemy would be much less able to combat them, or at least that's what he thought.

Hawk sighed, thinking on their quest. Even if Altena had been retaken, they still had no idea as to whom the real enemy was. Yes he was stronger now, he even thought that the fight with Jagan may have done him some good, but someone with the power to hide themselves so well and the intelligence to read them like a book. Hawk was worried to say the least.

Hawk rose to his feet, gently closing his door before looking square in his mirror. Perhaps that was it; perhaps the pressure was finally getting to him. Hawk always tried to seem calm and cheerful on the exterior. It had become instinctive to him, he could talk and joke and flirt without really thinking about it. He could even do it when something was worrying him, just like now. The fact was that the mere pretence of confidence made him feel more confident, made him act more daringly. Yet now, he didn't need an act, he didn't need to hide.

Hawk turned away, staring back at the door. But hiding was easy, hiding was what he did. His burden was his own to bear nobody else's. He liked Lise, and goddess, he wanted her, but no woman deserved what he would lay upon her. He couldn't do it, not now.

Hawk began to pace, that of course still left him with a slight problem. He didn't want to let her go, he liked her too much, but what else could he do? He should have known with all his womanizing, eventually it would come back and bite him in the rear.

Finally, Hawk gave up, he needed more time, he couldn't rush into this. He didn't know where he stood with Lise yet but he sure as hell didn't want to lose her as a friend. Of course that brought up the issue of a certain other friend he was meant to be meeting in a couple of minutes.

Again, Hawk checked the mirror, he looked good enough, there wasn't any real need to comb or wash anything. So less panicked and confused now, he pushed the door open and locking it behind him, walked back down to the mess room. Silently he begged the goddess for Lise to not still be there, though after an affront as bad as the one he'd given her, he suspected he might not see Lise again for a while. Well he would, but not in a friendly way.

The Navarrian did however; notice something odd as he was walking, footsteps behind him. They'd started almost as soon as he'd left his room. He had no reason to attack a person who might just innocently be walking to the mess, but he never liked the idea of someone following him, so instead of taking a turn towards the hall he instead took a sharp turn to the left. Usually he would never have paid this any mind, but he just felt that something was wrong. Hawk had learned long ago that his luck was one of his greatest weapons, even if it was a hunch, it was stupid to ignore it.

Now, Hawk believed in luck yes, but Hawk didn't believe in coincidences. When the footsteps stopped at the junction, Hawk had grown more suspicious. When they continued to follow him down what most passengers knew was a dead end. Well if Hawk was making an innocent mistake he could easily pay the person to keep quiet.

The Nightblade looked forward, he needed some way to turn and close the distance between the two of them in a confined space. This would be difficult, especially if the person was armed. All the while, Hawk was maintaining outward composure, his stalker couldn't catch on.

And there Hawk saw it, an arch holding up the roof of the corridor. Potentially he could pretend to walk into a room next to it and hide behind the support column. So as Hawk passed the arch he shifted left, pushing himself up against the wall. With all the powers of a nightblade, there was no way his new friend would see him.

Hawk strained to hear what was happening round the corner. The footsteps had stopped abruptly, when he'd turned the corner, but it was only a moment before they started, in the other direction. That was all the evidence Hawk needed.

With the shadows as his armour Hawk was on his target before he could make another step. The man didn't struggle, it was stupid to struggle with a knife to your throat.

"Now on the count of three, I'm going to let you go and you're going to act really amiable right? We're good friends, really. If you try anything, remember what I just did, I could gut you before you even knew you'd been cut open." Hawk didn't phrase it as a threat, he made it a statement of fact. "One, two," Hawk paused before the three, he wanted this man to remember the knife pressed against his gullet, "three." Hawk released his grip, turning his opponent to face him.

Luckily the man wasn't stupid enough to run away or attack him. A mess like that would be a pain to deal with, "Alright, it's simple, you answer my questions, if you answer them truthfully I don't hurt you," to be fair that went without saying really, he wasn't exactly going to give a man a medal for telling the truth at knifepoint, "I catch one sliver of a lie and you lose a hand."

Hawk wasn't lying about that, there were times, dark times, where he'd had to do worse. Nightblades didn't have to be evil, dark wasn't always evil, but it meant you were always on the edge, ready to fall into the abyss. Being a nightblade meant having clarity, you weren't confined by the rules that a paladin might live by, you weren't confined by the morals of society. But it needed more strength than anyone could know. Somehow, you needed to hold on to your humanity, no matter how difficult the task. Hawk thought he had a grip on it, but sometimes, like right now, he had his doubts.

"Who sent you here?" Hawk questioned, the menace in his voice was chilling.

"Noone, noone," he seemed almost too hasty to answer that, "it was just an announcement, we had to find any of you five mana warriors and figure out where you were going."

"Who's 'we'?" Hawk was genuinely curious now.

"The Altena thieves guild," the man responded, far too quickly.

Hawk stared at him for a moment, he was not pleased, "If a thieves guild existed in Altena I would know about it," Hawk grabbed the man's hand, pressing it up against the wall.

"No, no, no, no," the man literally grovelled, "Navarre wouldn't know about it, we've being laying low, please don't hurt me!"

Hawk didn't let go, he had this man in the palm of his hand, "So why wouldn't they want to be known to the biggest thieves guild in the world?"

"We know you're friends with Queen Angela, you'd help her shut us down! That's all I know, please let me go!" The man began to struggle slightly, until Hawk drew his knife again.

"If you squirm one bit more I'll count it as a lie. How much are we worth?"

"1 million luc, just for where you were." The man smiled very nervously, "I wasn't going to harm you Lord Hawk, honest. I was just following you to make sure I wasn't making a mistake."

To an extent Hawk sympathised with his comrade, but if he thought like a thief, well, he'd double cross Hawk the moment his back was turned.

Of course, Hawk had a solution to that little problem, "The moment you get off this ship your face will be known to every single thief on this planet. If I am injured in any way, rest assured, you will be in jail that very evening and your trial will result in a hanging. One million luc isn't worth your life now is it?" Hawk smiled at his friend, as if he was going easy on him.

"No sir, no lord Hawk, I won't say a word," the thief nodded his head up and down vigorously, as Hawk finally let him go.

To say he ran away would have been an understatement, of course, he didn't know Hawk had been lying the entire time. A single thief, let alone an entire guild anywhere near the moonlight forest was a laughable idea.

Then again, the Lord of Navarre thought to himself, he'd never heard of that thieves guild in Altena either and the man had been too petrified to lie about it. At least now he knew why they had been tracked so well. Sadly though, there was no way to stop it, barring every other thief being as careless as his Altenan comrade.

Hawk however, was reminded of the fact that he in fact had another Altenan comrade that he was meant to be meeting up with and she was slightly more appealing than her male counterpart.

Striding back to the mess, Hawk mused over what to tell her and exactly how to say it. Travelling with one of the most skilled politicians in the world did have its downsides, it was inconvenient to have to think over every single word coming out of your mouth.

Hawk gazed at the figure at the table, with her stuffy clothes and inexplicable hat, not even he would have guessed the Queen of Reason was sitting in front of him. But for all her ridiculous attire, Angela was still gorgeous as ever. Perhaps she was the one who'd screwed him up in the head so much. Just looking at her and thinking of what might have been made him want her again.

It was painful to see her with Duran, not because the man didn't deserve it but because she wasn't his any more and because she was just using the paladin to get at him.

Hawk pulled his chair back and sat down in front of her. For a while he just stared into her deep green eyes. He really, really wanted her back, but he couldn't ignore what he felt for Lise either. "So Mirana, any more good news?"

Angela sighed, "No, sadly not, beyond persuading our dear captain to change course I don't think there's much else I can contribute, the politics of the beast kingdom are really quite new to me. You have to learn the etiquette as a queen yes, but it doesn't mean you understand a bit of what you're doing." Angela smiled, Hawk did like her smile, "Long story short, I have no idea about what we're walking into here."

Hawk just grinned at her, Angela didn't like losing control of things, Hawk thought that was the main reason she'd chosen to be an Archmage, to have perfect control over the elements. Sometimes though, with her temper, he thought Magus might have been more appropriate. "Well then I'll get right on with the bad news then. It would seem that every thieves' guild that isn't Navarre has been told to keep a lookout for us and where we're going. We need to be a lot more careful, if hadn't been lucky enough to follow through on a hunch even I wouldn't know this."

Angela's expression was unreadable, which was a sure sign that she was either upset or angry, or a combination of both, "I'll tell the others, when I next see them, but I'm to assume there isn't much news beyond what we've already talked about?"

Hawk shook his head, "We shouldn't expect too much to happen on this trip anyway, I seriously doubt any thieves guild would put more than one of their members on a single boat, especially considering how small the one in question may be."

The archmage's expression seemed to change, Hawk didn't quite understand why, of course that was when he felt her leg rub against his own, "I trust then you've taken all the measures to neutralise this threat then?"

Hawk was trying to concentrate, but he found himself distracted. He knew Angela had been using Duran, he knew she was trying to mess with his head. But the moment she'd sat in front of him today, Hawk had remembered how much he wanted her, "Yes, I've dealt with that particular problem," Hawk didn't know when it had happened, but he found his hand entwined with hers, "Unfortunately, there's a particular side effect that's been bothering me."

The queen smiled, slightly smugly, "Oh and what's that?" apparently she was content to play this little game of theirs.

"What if the guy's stupid enough to go back on his word?" Hawk grinned, the innuendo there was subtle enough, but his expression and tone should have been easy enough to figure out.

Angela reached out, placing a hand to his cheek and drew herself closer to him. This was what he needed, "Then the guy in question," Hawk closed his eyes, "will find himself out of luck."

Hawk's eyes snapped open; Angela was already stood in front of him, "Sadly, I've got another meeting to attend to Leo, we'll talk later," Hawk couldn't think of a witty retort, in fact, he didn't move for another minute.

* * *

Angela couldn't say she didn't enjoy the look on Hawk's face. Much as she did want to kiss him, the archmage really couldn't let him off the hook just yet. Angela knew Hawk would eventually cave, but she didn't realise it would be this soon. Something must have set him off balance, he'd even let slip his knowledge of an Altenan thieves guild.

It wasn't as if this was the first time she'd flirted with him since that little incident inside the cleft. She'd been testing the waters for a while now, but she'd never even seen so much as a glance let alone a response on par with today.

Angela wanted to laugh. For a while she'd been beginning to doubt that Hawk even wanted her any more. Then again, his jealous stares had always been telling her another story.

Angela was rather pleased with the plan she had thought of. Their trip seven years ago had been rather, uneventful, for her. Yes, there'd been some tension between her and both Duran and Hawk, but they'd been so preoccupied with their individual problems and their growing power that nothing had really come of it. Now, though, she'd been able to manipulate both of them with the bat of an eyelash.

Somewhere Angela guessed she should feel guilty about that, but Hawk definitely deserved it and Duran, well Duran couldn't be happier.

Angela didn't know why thinking of her time with Duran made her feel good. It was strange really, the man tended to be quiet, withdrawn. He never said too much at meetings, content with just listening to the others and nodding with what he agreed with.

But there; there, things were different. Angela was naturally a dominant person, she almost always got her way. It was nice, just for once, to have all the control wrested from her. She had never expected the paladin to be so, commanding.

In fact, it was for that very reason that the archmage hadn't let him go like she did with her other partners. Yes, he was a useful tool in breaking Hawk and yes, generally she was timing her kisses so that Hawk would know what was going on. But goddess, a little bit of her enjoyed being with Duran, losing control.

Angela didn't know why she was walking to his room now, she'd just decided to walk in that direction to send another little message to Hawk, but for some reason she'd kept on going.

To be fair, she did want to talk to the Forcenan about the events Hawk had just related to her, but that could have been done a lot later, why was she still walking?

Angela didn't realise she had knocked on Duran's door until it swung open in front of her. She smiled at her knight, "Mirana," the way Duran struggled with their assumed names was hilarious, "Wh-"

Angela cut him off with a kiss, her arms sliding around his waist. He was surprised at first, but quickly his body and tongue responded as he dragged her into the cabin. The door slammed behind her. She didn't know why she was here, she didn't need Duran, but right now, she didn't care.

Writers Rants

The fact that I still get new reviewers scares me.

Response to reviewers:

HawkofNavarre: As always, I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter, it was a fair bit faster than this one, yes, but with a little luck I've kept a decent standard. (The next chapter should be out in about 2 weeks)

Greaterdemon: Koren is a mage who got on the front line, he is the very definition of deadable. Duran is something I'm developing and something that you'll have to follow. Carlie, I probably would have made her a bishop, if only because I can't see Carlie being anything but light and I like sabres. Angela's human, I just think Altenans are weird that way, she's a different kind of bitchy here, much more manipulative, more mature. Glad you enjoyed the chapter though. :D

Meerf: Wooooo feedback! I actually read your own fic whilst I was writing up this chapter, I shall endeavour to comment on it when I can. My punctuation could probably be better, sentence structure was never really my strong point, but I've tried to be a bit more concise this chapter at least. POVs and character balance are still something I'm trying to iron out. It's pretty obvious I think that I've taken your advice into account for this chapter, with three perspectives instead of my usual two. With that in mind though, I might keep two for chapters where I feel it's needed. The Duran Angela POV change was just retardation on my part, I fixed it as soon as I read your comment. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the changes I made in this chapter and I hope they worked out well in general.

Sinnatious: As always a pleasure to have you comment on my work. I really did like bringing Valda back for that chapter, that was a big event I'd been planning for a long time and I'm glad the Angela was convincing there. Again, with a little luck you'll see me putting your advice into practice in this chapter. Rereading the previous one made me understand what you meant, so hopefully I've been a good little boy and actually done something about it.

Cleopatra: OMG ZOMBIE QUEEN! Wait… wouldn't she have tried to eat Angela instead?

Shaneypooh: Wooo a new reader, as always this makes me exceedingly happy. I'm really glad you've enjoyed the story as a whole, I think I've slowly been getting better as time's gone on with the writing so I can see why a chapter might have taken you by surprise. In any case, I know this update came later than you might have wanted, but the next chapter will be out shortly.

Actual Rant

So this chapter was really, as I'm sure you can see, all about character development and bringing back the cave incident to the forefront of the story. I felt it was appropriate after the pretty much constant action in the previous chapter. It was also slightly experimental in that I was taking into account all the criticism I got and trying to improve in certain areas. I know I enjoyed writing the chapter and reading through it, but it's you guys who can tell me whether it was actually any good or not.

The next chapter as I've mentioned in some of my responses should be out before I go back to uni, so get your reviews in so I can sit there and tweak it a bit.

As always, if you love hate or just don't care about this fic, then please review it. I've said it once, I'll say it again, the only way I can improve and do justice to the crazy idea that's in my head is if I become a better writer and I can only do that with your help and reviews. So I figure if you've read this far, you might as well post something, it's worth a minute of your time.

By popular demand, free invisible ghost mutant cats for anyone who reviews.


	21. Friends

Friends

Friends

Kevin had enjoyed the trip on the riverboat. Well apart from the sense of impending dread. He'd taken some time to look at the banks of the river, his gaze piercing into the darkness of the forest. There was a lot more activity, far too much, even with the monsters multiplying as they had. That meant that there were beastmen venturing outside the kingdom. He couldn't begin to fathom exactly why. Whoever controlled the Beast Kingdom controlled the forest. There wasn't any need to send out troops there unless it was absolutely necessary.

Kevin sighed as their ship docked in Mintos. Yes, sending out patrols was probably needed in other kingdoms, but Kevin honestly pitied the man that attempted to navigate the Moonlight Forest without a guide. The fact was, troops sent there were wasted forces and even if there was an intruder the wolves would let them know. The wolves were good allies.

But the problem still remained. Why was there so much activity in the forest? Assuming the person that held control of the beast kingdom knew anything about their society, they should have drawn the same conclusion as Kevin. Perhaps word of Altena had spread. Perhaps the person there was just paranoid. The fact was it just made Kevin's job of getting to the keep undetected a lot harder.

Kevin strolled down the boarding ramp, his friends following him. He still couldn't quite fathom what was going on between all of them. He'd been sure that Hawk and Angela liked each other before. He still was sure of that actually; he could see the looks between the two of them. Somehow though, Duran and Lise had become tangled in this little web. Perhaps it was just because they were lonely, Kevin understood that more than anyone. King of the Beast Kingdom, but half human. Yes he was sure females would want him for his power or strength, it was the way of the Beast Kingdom. But there must be something more to a relationship than that he thought.

Still, no human girl would want the Beast King and no female could truly understand what he wanted. Love however, was probably the least of his worries. In fact he was fairly certain it would remain a niggling feeling in the back of his head for the rest of his life. There was simply too much to do and too many people to care for.

Kevin pressed some gold into the captain's hand, well beyond what he should have been paid. The captain had been more than willing to take them upstream, but Kevin still felt badly about putting his ship under such risk. It was right that he should be rewarded and if things went according to plan Kevin wouldn't miss the gold. Then again, if things didn't go the way he wanted, he suspected those would be the last pieces of gold he ever spent.

Kevin trotted after his friends who'd set off into the town. Mintos had always been a nice place. Kevin felt a sort of kinship to the beastmen who lived here. They'd been pacifists in his father's time, much in the same way he had once been. They had followed his example almost universally though once the death hand had taken power. Violence for a just cause was a necessary evil in the world in which they lived and as long as the Beast Kingdom wasn't out to slaughter innocent Wendellian's they were happy to support it.

Unlike the last time the five of them were here though, they were well rested from a rather relaxing boat trip as opposed to being utterly shattered from a trip on hard turtle-creature-thingback. Kevin had never really figured out what Booskaboo was actually meant to be, but then, perhaps he wasn't meant to be anything, just another manifestation of the Goddess. Alas, their old friend couldn't help them now, Kevin did miss him slightly, but he was probably happy in his cave in Bucca.

Not being shattered meant that this time they were able to just take a short stop at Mintos instead of spending, well for lack of a better word, a night there. It was always hard to keep track of time when your world was bathed in beautiful moonlight the entire time. Kevin did love that feeling though, he truly felt like transforming then and there. Even though the innkeeper would be far from surprised at the presence of a beastman, transforming in his establishment still might be considered impolite.

To say the group ate quickly though was an understatement. Perhaps it was their worry for Kevin's kingdom driving them, or perhaps it was just the terrible boat food, either way, they were on the road out of the town inside the hour. What was nice though was that in their haste the death hand had failed to notice any of the tensions he'd been worrying about earlier. Maybe they'd be able to get over them and deal with the matter at hand. Kevin mused on this, it wasn't unlikely to be fair. They were a well oiled team now, even if, right now, they might not be the best of friends. Considering that they'd faced legendary God Beasts, demons and a full sized dragon disputes over love seemed to be a fairly petty issue to get mixed up over.

They made fairly good progress over the forest, faster than Kevin had expected. In Pedan and Bucca they'd moved at a crawl that a snail could probably match. The first was because they were out of practise, the second because they'd been shipwrecked and weren't in the best condition of their lives. Now though they seemed to have become naturals at avoiding the roots that could trip them and the branches that could snare their arms for a good five minutes. It was a small pleasure really in a world which might be falling apart, but when the big things in life weren't going right these little victories were all you really had.

The beastman looked back to his friends, they'd adopted marching order again, with Hawk scouting, the paladin taking the rear and the girls sandwiched in between him and Kevin. In practice the marching order usually meant very little, monsters had a habit of attacking just as they were caught in the middle of a rather thorny bush or attempting to scale a rock face that might come down on top of them at any minute. Still though, it was good to keep the marching order in practice, one day it might be the difference between life and death.

Kevin sensed however, today would not be that day. The creatures of the forest, despite how malevolent they were as of late tended to keep away from him. Perhaps they recognised his power, the wolves might have something to do with that. In any case, when there was a disturbance the death hand could usually deal with it by batting the stray critter round the nose and staring at it aggressively.

Of course Kevin's senses were once again proven entirely wrong when a slightly panicked nightblade returned to the party. The assassin wasn't smiling as always, his look was, well, grim.

"There's a beast patrol up ahead. From the looks of it they just seem to be doing a routine check on the jungle, but they've set up camp dead in our way."

Kevin grimaced, "Is there another way round?" he asked hopefully, although he knew the answer already.

"Not unless you want to alert every single beastman in a ten mile radius by actually trying to walk through the forest instead of sticking to the trail."

Kevin grumbled, this was not looking good.

"Theoretically I could, y'know," Hawk trailed off, Kevin knew exactly what he was talking about, Kevin was furious.

"Do what Hawk?" queried Duran, sometimes Kevin wondered how Duran lived as royalty, even Kevin understood what Hawk was implying.

"Well," Hawk trailed off again, even if he was an assassin he really didn't like flaunting his trade all too much.

"Hawk you wouldn't," Lise sounded as appalled as Kevin felt.

"Under no circumstances are you to do it Hawk. It was fine in Pedan, but not here, these are my people and we're here to save them," that was final, he wasn't going to let Hawk hurt his warriors, even if they had turned against him. What kind of leader would he be if he condoned that?

"You do realise that we could probably just knock them all out before they even realised we're here. Yes beastmen are good and I mean no offense to your soldiers Kevin, but we are the warriors of mana, three or four beastmen won't be that hard to take down," the archmage spoke practically as always, of course she knew very little of beastman tactics.

"You're probably right, but here's the problem. Beastmen on patrol have one person assigned as a 'runner' if we attack, the others will do everything in their power to let him get away. If you're content with risking us letting him get away and then having to track a beastman through the forest then that's your prerogative, I however, am not."

The beast king grumbled, there wasn't a way he could do this without alerting the entire beast kingdom to his presence.

"Kevin, tell me something; the runner's going to take the most direct route to the Beast Kingdom right?" Hawk asked, his eyes gleamed mischievously, he had a plan and this time it didn't involve the slaughter of innocent beastmen.

"Yeah, there's no reason for him to take a detour. Why do you ask?" Kevin did know there was a plan, the details of it; they were a little more sketcy.

"Well we know the exact way the runner will go, all we have to do is have me sneak around to the other side of the camp. You guys attack and I ambush the runner on his way out, a deadly weapon and he'll be out of commission for a while," Hawk grinned, no it wasn't the simplest plan in the world, but it was a damn sight easier than anything Kevin could think of.

Kevin nodded in agreement, then asked his friends if they saw any flaws with it. Forest combat and ambushes were his specialty though and he wasn't surprised when nobody brought up any real objections, Duran suggested he hold back, unfortunately his armour didn't really lend itself to a surprise attack.

Before they'd even fully agreed though Kevin found that the nightblade had disappeared back into the shadows of the forest. If the beast king couldn't detect that he somehow doubted that some low level foot soldiers would either, or at least, he hoped he wasn't getting rusty.

All that was left to do though was to push their own attack on the camp. Kevin and his friends snuck, or at least attempted to, to the edge of the clearing where the beastmen were. Discipline seemed to be rather lax now, there appeared to be no official watch as such with most of the beastmen piled around a fresh carcass on the campfire. Kevin sighed, trust beastmen to think with their bellies, he'd have to deal with that when he was back in power.

Taking a breath, Kevin knew he was ready. He let out a roar as he leaped from the forest edge; the first beastman barely had time to look up before a fist smashed into his temple. His companions had slightly more time to react and like a well oiled machine they formed a wall between Kevin and a wolf he saw running at full pelt into the forest. He smiled, this was going to be too easy.

Before he mounted his second attack two more of the beastmen fell before him, Lise's spear worked well as a makeshift quarterstaff and Angela, well Angela was fairly used to bashing people's heads in already. From what he'd heard, she could knock out Duran on a good day.

The fight wasn't long or hard, and with a swift punch to the gut followed by a roundhouse kick the last of the beastmen was out cold on the floor. Kevin almost felt sorry for them. Then again, when you picked the wrong side getting your head bashed in by an angry mana knight was probably to be expected.

Kevin smiled as Hawk emerged from the forest, slowly dragging the body of the runner behind him. It was partly because he was happy that the plan had worked out properly, it was also partly because the trouble Hawk was having amused him. For all the man was utterly deadly with a pair of knives, his relative lack of strength was rather funny to behold.

Kevin turned back to the group to find Lise looking at him. He'd never really seen the amazon look grim before, it didn't seem appropriate for her and it was that look that truly began to worry him, "Remind me Kevin, your advisor's name is Jorin yes?"

Kevin nodded, Jorin had become his closest advisor over the past few years, the beastman was a genius and had a much better feel for politics than Kevin himself. Kevin had set him in charge of the kingdom while he was away knowing it was in safe hands. A lot of time alone had been spent wondering what had happened to his friend.

"And his symbol is a wolf's head with mountains as a background?"

Again, Kevin nodded, Jorin's family came from the mountain borders of the moonlight forest, the symbol represented their respect for their home and the power that the mountains held. Unfortunately this symbolism was somewhat lost on Kevin as he began to wonder how Lise knew this.

"Here's your traitor Kevin, here's the person that sold you out," Lise threw a tabard at him.

Kevin clutched it, desperately trying to think, he couldn't breathe. It couldn't be true, it must be a mistake, they were just members of Jorin's family, who lived near the mountains. They were just a scouting patrol sent out for security, but Jorin knew that wasn't necessary here. The Death hand tried desperately to stifle his rage, he'd trusted Jorin, he'd put the lives of his people and his friends on that man's shoulders and he was greeted with betrayal. Kevin looked up and silently started walking forward. He was surprised when his friends merely fell in line behind him. Of course he couldn't see the fire burning in his eyes.

* * *

Duran was beginning to wonder if they'd ever reach the Beast Kingdom, the massive fortress at the centre had been clearly visible for a while now, but he never remembered the journey taking this long the first time round. Then again, the creatures of the forest had been a lot more aggressive then, now they seemed to almost be scared of the party. It was nice really, the molebears of Forcena never showed the same courtesy to him.

Still, the moonlight forest was a lot creepier than the molebear highlands. At least there you had the option of going out during the day. Duran could barely see anything in the dead of night that was the forest and with beastmen lurking about in the forest being able to see was, well, more than just a pleasant convenience.

Then again, with Kevin and Hawk scanning the forest the entire time, Duran somehow doubted that his lack of vision would be the deciding factor in a sneak attack. Duran looked at Kevin who was warily staring into the darkness. It was strange seeing him in his grey furred form for a prolonged period of time. Kevin had always shied away from using it and even so would only do so in battle. What was even stranger is that he looked comfortable like that, perhaps more so than in human form. Duran had to accept that his friend had changed, a lot, but for some reason it felt unnerving.

Duran hadn't noticed the walls of the beast kingdom rising up in front of him, Altena was beautiful and Rolante always seemed grand, but nothing quite took his breath away as much as the Beast Kingdom. To have a structure built seemingly only for war, with every twist and turn designed for that purpose and for it to look so imposing, that was true art in Duran's mind.

The plan they had made was simple, the East side of the wall had a secret entrance in the side, apparently all castles came equipped with them as part of a standard package. They would break in through that and rush the throne room, hopefully with minimal casualties, Duran definitely didn't want to see innocent beastmen die, like those people in Altena, he'd been defending himself but, it didn't feel right.

With even more luck when they hit the throne room they'd be able to catch Kevin's traitorous advisor and put him to justice, perhaps even convert him back to the light. Kevin had always spoken so highly of him after all.

Kevin dashed across from the forest edge to the wall first, palming a stone in the wall which gave way and revealed with the whirring of some gears and cogs the secret entrance. Angela was across next, followed by Lise. The paladin himself followed, muttering about how ridiculous he looked trying to sneak in plate armour. Hawk was last across silently closing the entrance behind him before darting ahead and down the passage.

Allegedly nobody but Kevin and the ancient designers of the fortress itself knew about the passage, but they weren't taking any chances, Hawk might have been a ranger in another life and he knew a trap when he saw one, Duran was confident the nightblade would find any nasty surprises that might be waiting for them up ahead.

Fortunately though, their passage through the corridor was met with no resistance and soon enough they were at the exit. According to Kevin this would set them in the courtyard just outside the throne room, a strike from that point would be easy. Duran only prayed that for once things would go according to plan.

Opening the door, Duran promptly took all his plans and threw them out the window. A grand total of four beastmen stood in front of him, he thought he recognised the biggest one as Kevin's advisor Jorin, but he looked so different. In fact all the beastmen looked different, they were bigger and their fur was covered in black markings resembling what the paladin could only describe as stripes running down from their foreheads over their eyes and to their chin. Duran wondered if it was some beast kingdom tradition, but judging from the shock in the eyes of his own beast comrade the paladin suspected there was more to this than met the eye.

"You honestly thought we didn't know you were here," the once-advisor smiled. "You didn't think we were that stupid surely, even if you did do a number on my patrol."

Jorin gestured to the door to the right of him, "You're not strong enough to warrant me dealing with you so I'll let my servitors here act on my behalf, in any case I'll be in the throne room to deal with more, kingly matters." His smile was sickening as was the look he gave Kevin and with that he turned his back on them, shutting the door behind him as they left.

It was only then that the paladin noticed his death hand comrade was shaking, not with fear, but utter rage. The calmness with which Kevin spoke his next words scared Duran more than anything, "Duran, Hawk, Lise, deal with these idiots, Angela, you're coming with me in case I need magic support against that freak. Make sure these fools don't get to me guys, otherwise," Kevin stopped speaking and bolted to the door. For some reason the beastmen ignored him, Angela however was a different matter. The trio had been ready to launch themselves at her as she made her way across the room but thought better of it when they were faced with Lise's spearpoint. Not even a beastman wished to charge a readied spear head on.

Duran never took his eye off the archmage until she was out of his sight. If those thugs even touched a hair on her head he was ready to take them out. In fact, if Jorin touched a hair on her head, he'd take him out, or stab him some more if Kevin had already finished him off.

With the door shutting the three remaining combatants spread across the room. He and Lise had never really been the consummate hand to hand fighters, unlike Hawk who was the very essence of finesse when he fought. Still, they were far above the average person and even with increased size, these beastmen would be hard pushed to keep up with them.

Hawk merely had to glance at the two of them though, his look told them that he would strike first. Duran had no objections, even if they tried to strike at the same time, Hawk would be there before Duran had even moved a foot. The nightblade's expression turned to a smile as the beastmen lined up, each facing their counterparts. For some reason they didn't quite understand that Hawk alone would be enough to take all of them down.

One of the Beastmen shifted his footing slightly and with that the nightblade struck. Darting forward Duran could have sworn he saw the assassin ready to strike head on, but instead Hawk somehow disappeared, popping back into existence behind the beastman, dagger raised. This was going to be short.

And that was when Duran saw the beastman swivel and with a sickening thud jam his fist directly into Hawk's stomach.

Lise screamed.

The Forcenan could feel the air rush out of Hawk's mouth as his friend doubled over clutching at the arm connected to the fist embedded in his abdomen. The only things he could hear were the Navarrian's desperate gasps for air and Lise's terrified cries concerning Hawk's wellbeing.

The beastman had just stood there, savouring the moment, but he seemed to realise he had a job to do. Removing his hand he gently grabbed Hawk's chin, pulling up the Navarrian's head so he was staring him in the eyes. Then he delivered a roundhouse kick to Hawk's cheek, sending him sprawling across the floor.

Duran moved to aid his friend, but found that Lise already there, clutching at Hawk, shaking him, begging him to wake up. She wasn't disappointed though, struggling, the Navarrian lifted himself off the ground, his equilibrium was still off and his legs were shaking, "They're so fast," he muttered. Strangely the beastmen let this happen; even if they were evil perhaps they still had some vestige of honour left in them.

Duran tightened his grip on his sword, but again he was beaten to the punch.

"You will pay dearly for hurting him," Duran could see the fury through Lise's tears. He could feel her rage welling up to bursting point, "nobody, nobody is faster than my Hawk, you will pay," suddenly Lise drove her spear into the air above her, "Speed up!" she yelled, her shout echoing around the room.

Duran felt the effects immediately, his armour felt lighter, it was like there was a wind keeping the weight off his shoulders. Like this he was far stronger than any normal fighter, stronger than the demons of the underworld, a couple of rogue beastmen wouldn't trouble him, like this, he was untouchable.

The paladin did away with his usual tactical reserve and threw himself at the beastman in front of him. He swung, his attack was lightning fast, the goddess herself was helping him guide it and to his horror the beastman easily sidestepped, throwing a punch in response.

Duran raised his shield and felt his arm almost shatter from the impact. There was something wrong with these beastmen, they weren't normal, they weren't anywhere near normal. It had to be to do with the markings, there was no other reason he could conceive. The markings must be giving them power, another slice was dodged and the excess movement was turned into an uppercut of sorts, Duran stepped back, the punch streaking past his nose.

This was insanity, magic was speeding him up and even then he could hardly keep up with this guy. There was no way he was going to hit at this rate, especially with all the weight he was carrying. Then it struck him, sidestepping another punch aimed at his head, Duran tossed away his shield. Yes, it provided a defense of sorts, but that was for slashing and stabbing weapons mainly. The beastman was already set to crush his arm anyway, there wasn't any point in the shield at all.

Duran dodged again, it was easier now, he felt lighter and what was more, his sword swipes were faster, a lot faster. Suddenly the beastman wasn't on the back foot as such, but not enjoying the easy ride he'd gotten used to as of late. Duran grinned, he had another trick up his sleeve.

It seemed natural to him now, he called upon the Goddess and mana, but instead of reaching out for that energy he reached past it. Beyond the limitations of this world, beyond what was real and unreal, right and wrong, to a power the world couldn't begin to fathom. And there it was. Duran didn't reach out, he took the energy he needed. A duck, counter slash and suddenly his blade began to warp and change. Where there was once metal there was now lightning, there was fire and brimstone and all the components that symbolised the hellish truth of this power.

"Chaos sabre," whispered Duran before slashing at the beastman. He managed to dodge yes, but still staggered, screaming in pain as the superheated air seared his skin. That moment, that moment of weakness, was all that Duran needed. He waited, stared the beastman straight in the eye and kept staring as the head rolled across the floor.

He turned, Hawk's speed was unmatched but he barely seemed to be hurting his counterpart, Lise on the other hand seemed uniquely balanced for this fight. She didn't have so much of a scratch on her and her opponent, well he had more than a few bloody streaks lining his fur.

Duran assessed the situation only for a second longer and took pleasure in the fact that the fight would be over in less than a minute. Confidently he strode to the Navarrian and his beastman and calmly took off the wolf's torso while he was concentrating on Hawk. He didn't spare a moment before his gaze returned to Lise and her new friend.

Unfortunately this one had caught on to the fate of his two companions and abruptly stopped fighting.

"Surrender!" he said as Duran approached him, raising his hands slightly.

Duran might have spat on him. He sold his soul to the underworld and now he expected mercy because he was beaten. He expected them to forgive and forget when given another set of circumstances he would have taken great pleasure in killing them?

Duran reached the survivor and smiled amiably.

"No mercy."

The beastman slumped to the floor.

* * *

Angela looked back as she left the others to their fighting. She knew not to be worried, but she still was. Lise was her best friend and Hawk and Duran, well, they were special to her. A part of her, well, a lot of her would have stayed behind. Unfortunately that would mean leaving Kevin alone in the clutches of that weasel Jorin and all of his demonic advisors. No, she wouldn't leave Kevin to that fate.

The throne room was impressive as always and there Jorin was, waiting for them, with the audacity to sit on Kevin's throne.

"Your friends will die Kevin," Jorin's voice would have sounded cold, were it not for the faint hint of satisfaction in his voice, "Oh they'll put a struggle, definitely. But my beastmen have powers granted to them from a source ten times as powerful as your pitiful goddess." Jorin got out of Kevin's throne, as the two beastmen left in his entourage watched on, "Powers just like mine."

The rest happened so quickly Angela could barely keep up with it. Jorin leaped, across the room, landing just at Kevin's feet, sending a thunderous blow to the Death Hand's jaw. The archmage could only look on in terror as Kevin smashed into a wall. There was no give and she could hear the sickening thud from halfway across the room.

Of course once that had happened, the Queen of Reason did manage to regain her composure. The motions came naturally to her and within a second the spell was at her fingertips.

"Saint Beam!"

Two bolts of, what Angela could only describe as pure light struck the advisors, searing them with its holy power. They screamed, they howled, but ultimately both of them collapsed on the floor. Yes, she'd used all the mana she could feel on that attack, but it had worked at least. Who knows, perhaps even in this crazy world evil magic was still vulnerable to that of the light.

Jorin was somewhat shocked to see his friends dispatched so easily. In fact he seemed shaken. But why? There was no mana left, anyone would know that.

The realisation dawned on her. If Jorin was like Kevin he'd have no idea of how much mana was left in the air. In fact, if Jorin used this crazy alternate power source that her mother had, he might not even know if mana was there in the first place.

Angela had earned her title for a reason. She was the most powerful archmage to have ever existed yes, but she was also possibly the greatest political mind of her generation. Jorin wouldn't know what hit him.

"You seem surprised Jorin? I thought your warriors would have no trouble taking care of a defenceless little archmage such as myself," her voice was as cutely seductive as she could muster. Yes, she was taunting him, but her tone, that was what would throw him. "Now, I don't want to do that again, I wouldn't want to see a beastman as handsome as yourself seared to the bone. So why don't you just lay down on the ground there and maybe, just maybe, you'll get a nice reward." Oh Angela was feeling this, Jorin didn't look terrified, she didn't think a beastman could, but worried, yes, Angela could see that, she could feel it.

But instead of addressing her, Jorin turned to her own fluffball, who had managed to lift himself off the ground. "Kevin, I challenge you in single combat for the throne of the beast kingdom as is the right of any beastman of high standing amongst the noble families."

Kevin spat on the ground, "The fact that you invoke such a tradition having betrayed the families that give you that right makes my stomach wretch. Regardless, I accept your challenge. Nobody has the right to beat you to death but me." Kevin whirled to her, "Queen Angela, you must be the judge of this duel. Whoever ceases breathing first loses."

"But Kevin," she tried to protest, but the beast king cut her off.

"If I lose, Lord Jorin is the new Beast King, do not interfere, if you do, the match is null and Jorin will be declared the winner."

"But Kevin, I'm the judge, surely I can interfere anyway," Angela asked.

"You could, but then you would be robbing me of my honour and everything that makes me a worthy beast king. You would dishonour my father who I slew in this same combat and my father's father and every one of my ancestors. No person, be she a peasant or the Queen of Reason can do that and ever expect my forgiveness."

Jorin growled, "Enough talk, the fact that you allow a human to view this most sacred act is enough to make my own stomach turn, especially one as filthy as her." Jorin looked at her and began to smile, as if he'd had a revalation of sorts, "Is that it Kevin? Is this the human you've been fucking, I thought when your father debased himself like that it would be enough dishonour for a single family, but you as well. Then again, the soiled blood of their kind runs in your veins as well. How do you like it Kevin? Being soiled, being hated by your people and running to theirs for sympathy, how do you like screwing a whore like that because no real female would ever want you, you and your worthless half bred-."

That was enough, with a wordless roar, the beast king, the true beast king, expressed all the rage and anger and fury that Angela felt roaring in her own heart. He rushed at Jorin and Angela was confident that the usurper would pay for every word, ten times over, would feel the pain he'd caused until he could take it no more.

Then Kevin stopped, a knee buried in his abdomen.

That was what Jorin had wanted, he'd baited Kevin and what was worse, he'd used her to do it.

The larger beastman's fists came like a sledgehammer over Kevin's neck, there was a howl of pain. Then Kevin was face up on the floor, his eyes glazed.

Straddling his chest, Jorin, looked to the Death Hand and punched him square in the face, before landing another with his left fist. That was how it remained, for a full fifteen seconds Jorin beat Kevin's head again and again and again. Angela wanted to hit the usurper, screw beastmen and their blasted honour, screw them all, it didn't matter, not if you were dead. But what was the point, Jorin would tear a hole in her the moment he knew she couldn't use magic.

Abruptly though, Jorin stopped, "Kevin, I know you're alive. I know you can hear me. I bet you're wondering what happened to little Lugar. You know, that great warrior who you crippled and destroyed. You know, little Lugar who was like a son to you?"

"Lugar?" somehow Kevin, beneath his ruined, bloody face could still speak.

"Yes, we could have just killed him, fiercely loyal to you he was. We could have.

"We beat him Kevin, it wasn't just like a normal training, we smashed his head open Kevin, we broke his arms, his legs. It was a wonder he could even think, let alone breath. Oh, but we didn't leave it there Kevin. My warriors hadn't seen something that young and" Jorin paused, "flexible, in a while," Angela froze, no, they wouldn't. "He was good Kevin, they enjoyed using him very much, oh how he screamed, how he begged for our mercy." Angela didn't realise she was weeping, she couldn't even recall when she started. Lugar had been her friend, he was a beautiful pup, he wouldn't have hurt a fly. He didn't deserve that, nobody deserved it. Angela began to sob, "But we didn't kill him after Kevin. We ripped his fur out, clumps at a time, I can remember the skin tearing away like it was yesterday. He's still alive you know," Jorin grinned, it was sadistic, it was evil. "A hairless pup, crying in a cell, crying out, just for you."

Angela screamed, half in rage, half in hatred and that was when it happened. Suddenly Jorin was floating in the air and Kevin, he was at his feet. The beast king leaped, there was a burning fire in his eyes, filled with a frenzy Angela had never seen before, but he was surrounded by an aura she had.

Angela had seen a lot of things in her time, machine golems, dragons, ninjas, demons, but never before had she seen someone punch clean through a man's chest.

Writer's Rants

Response to Reviewers

Aaah fewer reviewers this time! Alas I think this may be slightly to do with my terrible update schedule.

HawkofNavarre: Alright, a little explanation. Lise is dreaming here, she sees the explosion and her dream ends, she then thinks to herself, "that explosion was cast by Hawk."

Duran's calm attitude and quiet nature comes from his paladin training, that's why he's quiet. Also, he's had seven years to mature since the game and I figured a paladin would grow a lot more calm and introverted over the years.

To me the last sentence made sense, but I can see how my sentences may have run on. With Lise that tends to be a technique to show her thoughts progressing as she thinks about them, instead of me needlessly dragging out a sentence because I don't know where a full stop should go.

As always criticism rules, so please keep it up, explaining what I'm doing and what I meant only helps me out with my next chapter.

Meerf: Again, criticism is awesome and really helps me out, I really couldn't care less if you wrote a full page telling me where I was going wrong, as long as it was vaguely backed up with some sort of way to improve.

Punctuation was never really my strongest point to be fair, although I think it's improving a fair bit because of this fic. In any case, I've been trying to make sentence structure more easily readable and understandable, my attachment to commas is probably there because semicolons are strange creatures.

Lise as a Vanadis can kick some serious ass yes, but as a star lancer, she's basically focused on buffing her party till there are spells coming out of their ears. To be fair, I always enjoyed her in that roll, so to me, support is a compliment. Besides, she totally kicked some butt here. She's loyal to Angela because they've been through far too much together and I guess that would create a bond between the two. Angie reciprocates this feeling as well though. Whether they'll have it out is something you'll have to read on to find out!

Hawk is Hawk and I love him for it. Duran's characterisation is interesting in that I have no experience of that myself, being fairly loud an extrovert. But then, it's how I figured a guy who was reserved but had all that power would act.

Angela is manipulative and I've always loved using her this way, the fact that she uses this trait in a fight as well makes me happy.

Oh and Kevin is punching holes in people.

Shaneypooh: Sadly I couldn't really fulfil your wish of an update a day… or even a month after your review. Still, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I've had a number of people talk to me about their preferences in terms of SD3 relationships. Mine is yet to be revealed, so enjoy trying to figure it out.

Dreamer789: Glad you enjoyed the fic. I killed off Carlie because I felt that the characters needed some sort of tragic event to remind them that they weren't invincible and to constantly play on their minds throughout the story. I also partially did it because she irritates me. But I'm evil.

Actual Rant: I apologise for the late update, I seem to do that a lot. I know I promised another story by the end of Easter but university finals got in the way as did university itself. With a little luck I'll get at least three chapters written by the end of this holiday meaning you'll all have a nice bit of reading before autumn term shows up and ruins my update schedule. Remember always that no matter how long I take to update I have not and I will not give up on this fic until it's done. Even though I am aware that I'm into my third year or so of writing and only 19 chapters are done.

In terms of the actual chapter itself. I'm really quite scared about how everyone took what happened to Lugar. That bit of monologue with Jorin along with his previous comments, makes this probably the edgiest and most mature chapter I've done to date. Having said that, if people weren't too shocked by that, then in my opinion this is probably the best chapter I've written so far. I had a lot of fun writing it and found it carrying itself to a thousand words or so over my intended target without me really realising. I think a lot of it was the fun I've been getting out of my character development which I think, in terms of main plot as opposed to romance, is really well done here. Having said all of that, I'm fairly certain that being all proud of myself and happy is likely to get me the biggest bitchslap ever.

Needless to say, please dear god, review my story. Even if you just say, "I read your story" it's worth writing because then I know you're there and I've got another person to write for. All criticism is welcome, constructive stuff more so. Free invisible hovering, tasteless, smelless, intangible pie for anyone who reviews.


	22. Looking Up

Looking Up

Palo had always been a nice town, Hawk had always liked it anyway. Even when he had been an exile, sneaking through the town desperately trying to avoid being caught by his former comrades it had its quiet charm. Whilst it wasn't sweltering it was hot but with a cool sea breeze to dull the edge somewhat. Sure, he loved Navarre and living in the desert, but not being able to go out in the afternoon was more annoying than you would have thought. If he did end up settling down somewhere that wasn't Navarre, he hoped that this would be the place.

Unfortunately the calming nature of Palo tended to make him gloss over the more important problems he had to deal with. Hawk couldn't tell what was happening to Duran but the paladin was beginning to scare him. He thought he'd noticed something wrong in Altena, but he'd ignored it, but after the Beast Kingdom, Hawk was worried.

It wasn't that what Duran had done was wrong; in his place Hawk would probably have done the same thing and not missed a step. It was that the paladin wasn't, well, acting like a paladin any more. The Duran Hawk had known all these years wouldn't have even had to think about his decision, he would never have killed those beastmen.

The worst part though, was that for all Hawk was worried by his friend, he couldn't help approve of his new direction. But that was why Hawk was a nightblade, he didn't feel remorse when there was a job that needed to be done. For a paladin to fall so far and so fast, there was something wrong there, but Hawk was having trouble figuring out what exactly.

It had started in Altena, but Hawk couldn't see anything special about that place. Duran hadn't seemed different beforehand at least. In fact, he hadn't seemed any different in between their trip from Altena to the Beast Kingdom, or their trip here. Hawk liked to be the one behind mysteries, not the one solving them and right now he was stumped.

And even then, the mystery surrounding Duran was almost a sideshow to the real problem. They had saved two kingdoms, that was great. They'd helped Angela and Kevin defeat the usurpers in their kingdoms. That was great too. But even after all of that, they still had no clue as to who had masterminded this entire plan. Even now, after all their success Hawk still thought they were just jumping through hoops. He couldn't imagine the strategic advantage behind losing strongholds, but for some reason, perhaps his thief's instincts, perhaps just paranoia, Hawk couldn't shake the feeling that they were fighting a losing battle.

Of course Hawk had made sure not to air his concerns with the others. He was certain Angela had picked up on it, she probably had before him, but the rest, he didn't want to demoralise them. In any case, even if they were just puppets on the ends of strings, the only thing they could do at the moment was respond to every pull. At least he couldn't see a better decision. The fact was, they couldn't deal with the problem until he revealed more of his hand so until then, freeing their homelands would remain their target.

Hawk sighed and strolled out of his room. He needed to talk to the mage more than ever now. Not just because she was the only person who had any real idea of but because of what had been going on between them recently. Hawk had liked being with her sure, he'd liked it very much. But now, now she was with Duran and he ached for her. What was worse, much, much, worse was that he ached for Lise as well. But what he couldn't do was allow himself to hurt her more. In fact he was still continuously surprised by the fact that she was still talking to him. After what he'd said, what he'd done on the ship to Mintos, she should never have forgiven him. But dealing with that was another secondary objective.

Unfortunately securing their primary objective, the castle of Rolante was proving slightly more difficult than Altena or the Beast Kingdom. Set high in the mountains Rolante castle had always been prided upon its near impregnable defence. Yes, Navarre had managed to take it once before, but with its new patrols and with the entire amazon force being immune to sleep flowers, taking over the castle was proving quite a conundrum. Unlike Angela and Kevin, Lise had never really thought to put in a secret passage to the castle. The amazon had claimed that marring the original architecture in any way would have been an affront to her ancestors. Yes, the notion was noble, but right now it wasn't the most convenient thing in the world to deal with.

But Hawk had noticed another problem, one which was far more insidious than the lack of a secret entrance. It was conceivable for Altenans to be manipulated by their rulers. Even beastmen wouldn't have questioned Jorin's actions, even if they disapproved. But the amazons, the amazons owed their complete and utter undivided loyalty to Lise and nobody else. They would sooner go back on that vow than well, Lise would mar Rolante's architecture. It made no sense for an evil presence to take over the castle when the amazons were still inside.

Of course that meant there were only two possible explanations. The first, the amazons thought they were doing the right thing and more importantly, trusted the person who was ordering them beyond a shadow of a doubt. The second, that was something Hawk didn't want to think about, that Hawk couldn't even imagine. Then again, he never could have imagined what Jorin had done to Lugar. Hawk didn't get upset, he never got upset, but seeing that had filled him with a white hot rage that he'd only ever felt once before. It had taken all his strength not to give into the fury, if he ever saw that again, it might just tip the scale.

Angela's door didn't really lead on to the fact that her room was probably the nicest in Palo's inn. The queen never insisted on getting such a room but somehow she always ended up with it. Not that Hawk was complaining. Even after years as Lord of Navarre he could never really get used to a room which was too lavish. It had to be a perfect mix really, between spacious enough to allow freedom of movement, but not so big that it felt empty. His room in Navarre, that was about right. There were some things he would change if he could, like the desk with paperwork piled up to the ceiling, but aside from that, it felt good to him.

Knocking on the door, Hawk almost felt at a loss as to what to say. As much as he wanted to tell her to stop screwing around with Duran and that she'd made him jealous enough, it probably wouldn't do even if they did both know what she was doing. Instead as she opened the door he offered her a smile before turning to face down the hall.

In a second the sorceress was beside him, smiling, she looked as radiant as ever, somehow, she looked as if she'd known he was coming, her soft hair seeming to have had every strand placed where it was by design, even though she must have only taken a few seconds over it. It was almost enough to put Hawk off his game. What did put Hawk off his game was when she wrapped her arm around him. Perhaps she was doing it for that very reason, or perhaps she actually wanted him. Either way, he realised that they'd already walked out of the inn without a word being said between them.

"So I see you realised that trying to hide ourselves was a pointless task then?" Hawk ventured as he tried to avoid getting lost in her eyes.

"There's really no point in it is there?" Angela's smile and tone didn't match her somewhat serious statement. "We already tried that at the Beast Kingdom and somehow they knew we were coming didn't they?"

Hawk nodded, it wasn't going to be hard to talk to her about his concerns. As he'd suspected she had concluded as much as him. "So the question is how did they know we were coming?"

Angela frowned slightly, she seemed more frustrated than anything else. "That's the problem, our plan was foolproof and you clogged the only hole in it when you caught that thief. I don't understand what could have gone wrong."

"So there's something we've overlooked, there must be," Hawk said, questioningly, for some reason he didn't think Angie was revealing her entire hand.

"Well," Angela seemed almost reluctant to part with her information, "Hawk, you can't tell anyone this, it's between the two of us, not even any of the others."

Hawk raised an eyebrow, "Why me? And why nobody else?"

Angela turned to look at him and then he really did get lost in her eyes, "You're the only one who would understand and more importantly, you're the only one I trust."

Hawk looked at her incredulously, with the amount she'd been with Duran as of late, she should probably trust him over anybody else.

His look must have betrayed him, even though it felt more like she could read his thoughts. "It's about Duran."

Hawk didn't want to let on what he'd figured out just yet, instead he just looked at her questioningly, encouraging her to elaborate.

Angela ran her fingers through her hair, clearing her purple locks from over her eye, "I was wondering about how our plan had gone wrong in the beast kingdom, but concluded that we should never have been detected before we got there. But that got me thinking, if we were physically undetectable that doesn't stop magic from finding us."

"But I've never heard of a spell which tracks magic users before," Hawk questioned, he hadn't a clue as to what she was thinking.

"Neither have I, such a spell doesn't exist otherwise I would know of it," Angela replied, there wasn't any sense of pride in her statement, it was fact and Hawk knew that. "But it was worth me checking anyway and that's when I found it."

"Altena was always a kingdom of magic users, so we always had to develop new spells," Angela continued, "But in order to do that we had to understand how our spells affected humans, so we developed a small technique to see the residue mana that is drawn to the living. It's like a magical signature," Again Angie trailed off, she seemed reluctant even to say what she was thinking, "Duran's magical signature is different to ours, it's different to that of any human I've ever come across."

"You mean to say that Duran's new power is making us detectable?"Hawk inquired.

Angela merely nodded.

"But that in of itself isn't a bad thing, we can just tell Duran to stop using the power then."

Angela frowned once again, "Hawk you're not looking at this the right way, it's not about us remaining undetected any more. It's about how Duran's being detected."

Hawk was still confused, "Surely it's just a matter of someone concocting a spell to find Duran's difference and exploit it?"

The archmage looked away from him, preferring the street cobbles instead, "How did they know about Duran's difference to begin with and how did they know how to make a spell to exploit it without being able to study it Hawk?" her voice quavered and at last Hawk understood why.

"His powers must be coming from them, we have to warn him," he didn't know why Angela hadn't done it earlier.

Angela turned to look at him, any sorrow he'd seen was gone, the Queen of Reason was now as cold as ice. "No, we shouldn't. Hawk, you've heard the saying that once you found out a spy is in place he's on your side, not the enemy's right? Well Duran is like a spy, we know they can use him to detect us and because of that we can, well, use him to distract them. Until they realise we know, he's our tool, not theirs."

Hawk grimaced, he'd known Angela for so long and even then he hadn't expected this. "That's cold Angie, that's very cold. You do realise we're gambling on his life here"

"I know, this is the hardest decision of my life Hawk, believe me," as emotionless as Angela was trying to sound her face gave her true emotions away. "We're not abandoning him, we're not. But we need this, it's the only way we can win."

Hawk didn't know when they'd walked back into the inn, he'd barely even registered walking back up the stairs to the hall. "I understand Angie, I understand."

She hugged him. Hawk's arms instinctively curled round her, stroking that silky hair.

She wasn't crying, Angela didn't cry, but if there was a limit on her reserve and calm she was reaching its edge. Hawk had never seen her this vulnerable in a long time, perhaps it was because she felt betrayed, by both Duran and her feelings. Hawk could only hug her tighter as he worried about the paladin's change of attitude, he couldn't mention it to Angie, not now.

He noticed the hug loosen and found something he didn't expect, a beauty staring up at him. Now he was taken in, truly taken in.

He hadn't felt himself lean in, but when their lips touched it was electric. He'd wanted this, wanted her for so long now. He might not love her, it might just be a fling, but right now none of that mattered. If only for a brief moment, he'd finally won her back.

They parted slowly, tentatively as if worried that kiss was to be their last and Hawk found himself staring at the enchantress in front of him again, taking her in.

"Hawk, I'm sorry," he knew what she was apologising for. It didn't matter now, but it still meant something to him, as if she'd patched a wound he'd had for a very long time. With that however, there was a change, Hawk wasn't looking at the vulnerable Angela from a second ago, this one was back to her usual self and he recognised that look in her eyes.

A door opened in front of him, he was staring into her room. "Now Hawk," said the fine specimen before him, "as I recall, we managed to miss out on a rather, important, part of our relationship." She pushed him back into the room, "And I am not missing out again," Angela kissed him again, much more deeply as her hands went to his shirt. Hawk's mind was too occupied with what his own hands were doing to catch sight of a paladin staring at them from down the hall.

* * *

Lise was having a quiet day. The others had left her alone, no doubt worried about what she was about to go through. For some reason though, she wasn't scared. She was angry, yes; who wouldn't be when someone you loved and trusted as a sister had betrayed you? She didn't know the identity of the traitor, only that it had to be one of the amazons, since nobody else could gain command of the army without them suspecting anything. Her poor girls probably didn't even know they were being manipulated, then again, someone could easily have cast a spell to compel them to loyalty. Bigieu had done something of the sort back in Navarre, but even she had resorted to using monsters eventually. The people of Palo hadn't sensed anything amiss in Rolante castle at least, although they had commented that the amazons hadn't been seen for a while.

In all honesty, Lise just didn't know what to expect. She couldn't worry about anything or be scared of anything because she had no idea what she was going to be up against. Kevin had to fight Jorin, Angela had to fight her mother, but she hadn't had anyone that close to her apart from Elliot and if Bigieu couldn't control his mind then nobody could. She hoped her brother was still well, she did worry for him, most of the time now. After what had happened to Lugar; Lise shivered, she couldn't bear the thought of that happening again, to anyone, let alone her baby brother.

It was strange that she still thought of him as her baby brother. He was a competent leader now, still learning but wise beyond his years. His kidnapping had hardened him more than anything and although technically it wasn't allowed he'd been learning how to fight from her. Indeed, he had actually become fairly good at it. Lise had felt a welling sense of pride in training her brother, he was a quick study and determined and she'd all but raised the boy.

Now though, he was in jeopardy. A part of Lise just wished they hadn't taken a break in Palo and just cut straight to the chase. Of course that part of her would have got her killed multiple times by now. Yes, she led from the front sometimes, but she had settled into her role of overseeing battles as they went, ensuring her troops were well positioned, everything that a general needed to do. She even did it with her friends now, yes she was strong in combat, but it felt right to sit back and make sure no gaps were opening up, it felt right to support her friends and cover for their weaknesses.

What felt wrong was that now she was the weak link. It was her castle, her fight, her people, but without Marduke and with any mana being used by Angela everything she brought to the group seemed to have been taken away. Yes she was a more versatile fighter than Hawk or Kevin, yes she was faster than Duran and yes she was stronger than Angela, but the fact still remained, her impact on fights had diminished over time and she didn't like it.

Lise flopped down onto her bed. Of course, her growing uselessness in combat wasn't the only problem she was facing. She didn't want to say she was confused over Hawk. She didn't want a man to be messing with her emotions and clouding her judgement. But that's how her hand had been dealt. One kiss had been enough to send her completely off course. Hawk had barely shown any interest in her after that, abandoning her on the boat like a fool.

She often wondered if she'd just dreamed what had happened in the cleft. She really did, every time her relationship with that blasted thief took a step forward it felt like something just pulled them two steps back. Then, of course, there was Angela. Hawk still liked the archmage, at least, that's what Lise thought. That was why he couldn't ever commit to her, because he'd lose the possibility of ever being with Angie.

In the end, no matter how hard Lise tried, or how much she wanted it she could never offer what the archmage did. That was what saddened her more than anything. She didn't love Hawk, she couldn't love him, she wouldn't let herself, but she still wanted him to be happy and it seemed that he'd be happier with Angela than he ever would be with her.

She had probably just made him realise that on the ship. Why she'd been so forward, why she'd even thought to do that was beyond her. She hadn't needed an answer that badly, not badly enough to scare him away. It wasn't as if it mattered any more but going over the situation again and again felt like the only thing she could do now. It was the only way she could remember those brief few seconds where she was his and everything felt right.

Lise sat up, moping over her thied wasn't going to do anything now, all it did was make her feel worse. What she needed to focus on was how to break in to Rolante castle. It was a very tricky situation, Lise had never even dreamt of marring the castle by installing secret passages into her stronghold. It just felt wrong, like disrespecting an elder. Lacking that respect of course would have made her life a lot easier now, but without it, well, she just wouldn't be herself. Instead she needed to find another way. Sleep flowers unfortunately wouldn't work on her amazons either, assuming of course, the worst had happened. A dark bubble welled up in Lise's mind. Of course her amazons having their minds controlled were a terrible thing, but it wasn't the worst that might happen to them. All she could do there was silently pray to the Goddess that a slaughter hadn't taken place and that her sisters were still well and alive.

But as Lise thought of the Goddess an idea came to her. Mana was weak yes, but the corridor of wind seemed to act as a focal point for magical energy in the area. If somehow, they could harness that magic for their own purposes they might stand a chance of getting into the castle undetected.

Of course her train of thought was then utterly derailed by a knock on her door. Lise sighed, the Goddess never let her have things easily, sometimes she wondered what she'd done to irritate the faerie, they'd always seemed to get on well. Perhaps she'd done something to annoy the faerie after the trip, Lise supposed she could have prayed to the Goddess more in her time, but you'd think an entire year of service and saving the world would be enough to satisfy someone.

Upon opening the door however, Lise realised that the Goddess might not be being so cruel to her. The paladin in front of her was a rare sight indeed, one she had sorely missed over the past few weeks. "Hi Duran, what brings you here?" Angela had had Duran wrapped around her finger for almost the entire journey. It was a pain really, Lise liked talking to him, she'd always found that she was very similar to the paladin and conversations with him, well they were refreshing. She wasn't worried about ulterior motives or secrets, it was just her and a friend, albeit a fairly handsome one who happened to be king of another country.

"Not much really Lise, I just thought it'd be nice to talk," Lise's questioning look prompted a more elaborate response, Duran didn't go anywhere 'just to talk.' "Well that and I've been considering our approach on Rolante castle, running my ideas by you is probably the best idea, since you know the place best."

Lise smiled, perhaps the Goddess really wasn't trying to annoy her today, "I was just doing the same thing. Great minds must think alike." Lise stepped back and walked back into her room, she almost laughed when she realised the paladin hadn't followed her, "well what are you waiting for? Come in!"

Lise motioned for him to sit next to her on the bed, it was the only place that could really fit the both of them anyway, "So I was thinking that if we can't get into Rolante by a secret passage the only other way must be over the walls right?" Duran began.

"Well yes, that seems logical enough, but if the walls are being guarded by amazons then it's going to be rather difficult to fulfil that objective," Lise was convinced she'd trained her troops well enough to prevent even the mana warriors from scaling the walls, besides a frontal assault would cause far too many casualties.

"Right, but no amazon would be trained to look for something flying above the walls right? We're talking a few hundred feet in the air," he continued.

"Well no, not really, there are some drills I implemented in case of assault by God Beast, but no amazon would be worried about that on normal guard duty.

"So that's our way in, all we have to do is find a way to fly above the walls and we're set," Lise still couldn't see where Duran was going with this, "some friends of mine once mentioned seeing people using kites to fly around the mountains, if we can use those then surely we can get over the walls and to the citadel without alerting too many guards, if any," Lise could but nod, it was an astute observation, she hadn't even remembered the people in Palo asking her permission to use their 'gliders' in the mountains, but if what they did was legitimate, then that might be the single chink in Rolante's defenses that they could exploit.

"That's quite a plan Duran, usually it wouldn't work, since Rolante's winds would scupper the gliders, but I might just have an idea of how to correct that little flaw," Lise could but smile at the paladin.

"Care to inform me what said plan is?" inquired Duran, he was evidently curious.

"It involves magic and the corridor of wind but, it's better I explain everything to all of you at once anyway," Lise continued to smile sweetly at him, it would be quite a surprise indeed.

"Fine," Duran chuckled, "it had better be good though, I don't want to be kept in the dark for nothing you know."

"Oh, just trust me, we have known each other for seven years. I'm surprised you can't figure it our yourself anyway, I mean we were thinking of the exact same thing before you came here anyway," Lise's grin persisted, for some reason she hadn't been this relaxed in a long while.

"See Lise, that's what I've always liked about you, we always seem to think on the same lines, no matter what I can always talk to you and well, you understand where I'm coming from," Duran flashed her a smile, warmer than she was used to.

"Well, it's not that hard to understand a guy who's so similar to me really. I mean all I had to do was think about our position and the tactics we needed to employ to best take advantage of that. Any general would have done the same thing," it was true, Eliza probably would have come up with the same idea in half the time.

"Oh please, you do yourself an injustice, most of my generals would have taken days to even get their heads around my strategy let alone adapt their own to fit to it."

Lise blushed, she wasn't that good, "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm deadly serious, the idea of gliders would have confounded them for at least a day," said Duran waving his arms as if to emphasise his generals' befuddlement.

Lise stifled a laugh, he looked ridiculous and yet, it was cute, "Perhaps you should get some new generals then, yours don't sound like the most competent in the world."

"If only I could my dear, if only I could," Duran's voice still seemed cheery but his words carried the emotions of a battle hardened ruler resigned to his fate.

Lise hadn't realised that her head was resting on Duran's shoulder, but when she did she was surprised, more that it didn't feel strange than at the realisation that she'd placed it there, which of course brought to the forefront of her mind a question, "Duran, why aren't you talking to Angie about this?"

For the first time Duran frowned, "I saw her earlier," Duran paused, "with Hawk."

In that moment everything Lise had been worried about shattered in front of her, of course she'd known Hawk liked Angela, but since the cave Lise had known Hawk wasn't entirely over, but she'd never considered the Altenan a threat, she hadn't even suspected, she was in shock.

And for some reason when Duran placed his lips on hers, she kissed back. It didn't feel right, but then it didn't really feel wrong either.

Writer's Rants

ArturD: As always new reviewers make me happy inside. I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far and there'll be a bigger focus on Kevin soon enough. I apologise for this chapter though since action has been sidelined for once in favour of character development. I'll return to normal form for the next chapter though.

cloak: More new reviewers! Dear lord. Anyway, the Lugar thing from reviews did everything I ever wanted it to. It was wrong on so many levels, I felt wrong writing it, so it was a great thing to have a villain do. As far as descriptive exaggeration, I like leaving the details untold so readers can think of it in their head. With that being said, I'll see what I can do with descriptive exaggeration, who knows it may work outl.

Middle Something: Three new reviews in one chapter is like a Godsend. I can't say which pairings I'm a fan of, although cannon never really pointed to Kevin/Angie. Still, it's an interesting combo to like, I'd like to see how well it worked out in stories.

Meerf: I don't know what to say to this. To say you've gone above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to reviewing isn't enough. All your criticism has been taken onboard. Hopefully some of it was implemented well. I actually got back to the previous chapters and have updated them as you suggested. I can't respond to all of your review, it would be a page long response, but just for the record, I have actually had a beta reader for pretty much the entire story. There are things that just get missed unfortunately. In any case hope you enjoy the chapter and I look forward to another review since they appear to help far too much.

ShaneyPooh: The sarcasm I thought was placed well enough since Duran sorta resented that fact that he didn't have a secret passage. New powers make me happy because they open up new plot elements.

Actual Rant

This chapter took me a lot longer to do than I would have liked. The actual writing of it didn't take long, but the process of having it beta read and then going over it msyelf delayed me publishing it for a while. I'm conflicted over this chapter, in one sense I think it's set up the events coming fairly nicely. In another sense I worry over high school soap opera syndrome, or "Loves me, loves me not" syndrome as it is otherwise known. I'm also very aware of the lack of action in the chapter but felt the change of pace was necessary for keeping everything fresh. Hopefully though, everything worked out alright and you liked the chapter and I'm just being paranoid over nothing. The next chapter may take a while longer in coming as I'm heading back to university now and will probably be drunk and/or be raped by work.

The reason you may be spammed with chapter updates is because I'm changing the original few chapters so that their overall format is the same as my later ones. It makes for a better looking story.

As always, if I don't update for a while, don't lose faith, this WILL get done. Review goddamnit because reviews are awesome and I love my reviewers very much. Even if you only have 5 seconds to just drop in and say you're reading that's great since the more people I write for the happier I am doing it.

Free invisible sugar coated happiness beams for all those who review.


	23. Clarity

Clarity

Angela wasn't having the greatest day of her life. Yes, she could take the freezing cold of Altena in her stride and yes the burning desert of Navarre wasn't a problem but what she had never really excelled at in her life was rock climbing; well, at least not rock climbing in a magical dress. Yes, she could get by, but by the end of the day she knew her beautiful legs would be marred with plenty of cuts and bruises.

Of course that didn't sit well with the archmage; that said things could of course be a lot worse, were it raining she would have her hair to deal with as well. That wasn't fairing too well in the wind either, but it was a sight better than it otherwise would be.

Angela winced as her knee grazed against another rock. Looking down she was glad to see no blood but suppressed the urge to reach down and rub it better. Yes it would feel good but it would also result in Duran and Hawk doting over her like puppies. Yes it was nice to have both of them in her pocket, very nice on occasion but right now an extra moment of dallying was an extra moment where they weren't forwarding their attack on Rolante castle. She had to admit, the plan involving "gliders" was fairly inspired, no guard working at the dead of night was going to be paying that much attention on the ground let alone the air a few hundred feet above them. Of course she did have concerns with making the attempt using the very limited mana in the area, but it was something that needed to be done. With a little luck and enough forethought they might not even need air magic. She didn't quite understand the principles behind why thermals were there to begin with, she just knew what they did.

Of course this didn't explain Lise's need to go to the corridor of wind, it was something Angela had been pondering for their entire climb. It always irritated her when she found a problem she couldn't solve, it was like being a child all over again and just not understanding what she was doing wrong. In the end, that may have been what drove her to become an archmage, that unending thirst for knowledge. Even now people thought she'd be more suited to being a magus and yes Angela knew she had the temper and personality for it, but in the end, she was happier this way. Her strength didn't lie in her magical power alone, but her knowledge of where and when to use it. Whilst a magus might smash something into the ground faster than she did, there was no way that they'd be able to manipulate a warm breeze with same subtlety and deftness. To the layman smashing things might be more useful, but when she was more concerned with advanced diplomatic relations, well that warm breeze might just curry the favour she needed to win a person over.

As much as Angela did like solving puzzles though it appeared as if the time for trying to solve this particular one was up. Climbing over the last boulder in her way Angela came face to face with the cavernous entrance to the Corridor of Wind. It wasn't intimidating, but somehow even though it was only the entrance to a cave it seemed majestic, looming over the mountains as it did.

Without a word or a break however, Kevin, who had been heading their little procession as always took a step into the cavern. Angela was beginning to worry about her favourite wolf. Yes he was still struggling in an amusing way with the demands that the life of a normal human placed on him, waking up in the morning instead of at sundown, eating with cutlery and he was still polite as ever, but deep down he felt different. Ever since the beast kingdom Angela didn't think she'd seen the Beast King smile. That was what he was really now, the Beast King; Kevin her friend had disappeared somewhere. What happened to Lugar was hard enough for Angela to watch but for Kevin, Lugar was like his son, it must have been crippling. The sad part though was that Kevin knew he had a job to do, he knew he didn't have time to mourn. Instead Kevin had gone to hide somewhere and replaced himself with the Beast King because he didn't care about one person over another, all he cared about was the task at hand. Angela knew it would hurt Kevin more over the long run and she knew he couldn't keep this up forever, but what else could he do? The world was in danger and he was needed now more than ever.

Unfortunately Angela's train of thought was interrupted by a gust of wind in her face, evidently even with mana fading the statues in the corridor still had no trouble being as irritating as ever. Angela wondered how that was possible, she'd always assumed the Corridor's defence mechanism was powered by magic but that couldn't be possible if it was still working now.

"We wondered what was going on when the winds in the corridor didn't lose their strength seven years ago," Lise said almost at a whisper, she sounded reverent, "our ancestors must have known that one day there would be a time when mana couldn't be used any more." The amazon touched the walls of the cave, "embedded within this rock lies the mana to sustain the Corridor and the winds around Rolante for the next thousand years." She smiled at them, "and what's even better is that my ancestors gave me the key to using this power." Pressing a block in, Lise began to make the ascent to the summit of the Corridor.

Angela could only watch in awe, somewhere her head was yelling at her to start moving and follow Lise, but her heart kept her in place. Here was what she longed for, mana still untapped, where she could realise her true power once again, where she could continue her study long after it was all gone.

Tentatively Angela tried to fill herself with the power she had known long ago. She didn't give it form, she just let it flow through her and it felt good, almost too good. That was when she realised that her friends were all staring at her, she hadn't moved in the past minute. Letting go, oh so slowly, still savouring what she could the archmage merely blushed and didn't say a word. Instead, she made her way towards the others and continued to the summit.

Her friends were smart enough not to ask any questions about what had just happened, the more magically attuned like Hawk and Lise might have figured out what was going on, but that didn't particularly concern her. What did was the potential this place had, about what she could do here, how she could change the world. Angela smiled slightly to herself, considering what she had enjoyed more, the feel of her power returned to her or Hawk last night.

Glancing at the nightblade Angela again suppressed a smile. It hadn't exactly been easy getting Hawk to that point, but it was entirely worth the effort. Yes, it had involved a lot of manipulation and somewhat questionable tactics, but if she had had any problems with that she wouldn't be Queen of Reason. Besides, Hawk probably enjoyed it too.

Looking back Angela thought she might have been developing feelings for her handsome thief, his roguish charm and good looks did nothing to arrest the process. To an extent those feelings were still there, buried in her heart, but a lot of it had been jealousy and blind lust. It wasn't that she didn't like being with Hawk though, being around him, talking to him, but she knew that if Hawk were to magically disappear from her life, she'd still be fine without him. Perhaps slightly more tense than she was now, but still fine.

Unfortunately those feelings didn't extend to the other man who had been rather involved in her life as of late. The paladin had been ignoring her recently, to an extent that was a good thing, she still hadn't figured out what was wrong with him after all, but it also confused her. As far as she knew Duran had no reason for the sudden change in attitude. In fact she really couldn't understand why he wasn't trying to get another kiss out of her. What confused her even more however was that she missed him. She missed the man waiting on her hand and foot, she missed having that rock keeping her from floating away. All that said, deep down she knew that he had only ever been a stepping stone, a way to get back at Hawk for what he'd done to her. That's all she thought Duran could ever have been to her.

Angela wasn't surprised when she found that they'd reached the pinnacle. They'd been together so long now that they felt comfortable being in silence together, especially when marching. It was easy to get lost in your thoughts when all you were doing was following the person in front. Lise and Duran were already unpacking the gliders they had managed to procure. The things looked rickety at best though; perhaps this plan wasn't fully baked.

Of course, most of their plans weren't fully baked or even half baked. Most of the time they just relied on lucky improvisation and hoped the enemy made a mistake. Sadly this foe seemed to be almost immune to making mistakes. Even now, after all they had done, they still had no idea of how to get to him or even what his name was. It infuriated Angela really, the one responsible for raising Pedan, brainwashing her mother still looked like he was going to get away clean.

"The button I pressed in the corridor of wind should have adjusted the thermals in the mountains," said Lise, now that all the gliders were laid out neatly. "With any luck that should mean a free ride to Rolante, assuming of course these things don't crash and burn inside the first fifteen seconds," Lise glanced at the gliders again, Angela was beginning to wonder if such a thin piece of cloth attached to what looked to be a few metal poles could hold up even her weight.

"What's the plan when we get inside Rolante then?" asked Hawk who had been fairly silent until now. It was odd, Hawk asking about a plan, usually he was the one to come up with most of their ingenious schemes. Then again, Lise knew Rolante better than any of them did, the last time Angela had been there was five years ago for some diplomatic work.

"Simple enough, I'll get through to the throne room and deal with whatever bastard is there sitting on my throne, the rest of you just need to run interference until I've finished the job," it was unlike Lise to swear, or be this in control. Yes she was like that leading an army but not with them, this was getting to the amazon more than she'd like to admit.

"Then let's get to work," replied Kevin who was already hoisting one of the gliders over his head. That was all they needed, in a few moments the rest, with a little instruction from Lise who'd had the opportunity to actually talk with the store owner about these things, were ready.

It was Duran who threw himself off the cliff first, he looked strange holding the glider, slightly too big for it perhaps. But as Angela watched him gain control of the glider and begin to soar through the air, nothing could take away from the sense of majesty.

Hawk and Lise followed next with Kevin a few seconds behind. Angela could only look down at them. Sure, she wasn't scared of heights, but considering the fact that she was going to be throwing herself off a cliff put her off centre. But it was something that had to be done.

Taking a deep breath and straining not to close her eyes Angela gave herself a running start like the others, only to find that as she left the cliff face she could already feel the winds begin to lift her into the air. And then, then it was wonderful. This must be what birds felt like, she felt free, liberated and just for a moment she felt more calm than she ever had before, just taking in the moment.

Angela could see the lights of Rolante ahead of her, she could see her friends silhouetted in the moonlight. Beyond that all she could see was the darkness around her, but that was fine, it just made everything feel more peaceful.

Of course, things couldn't keep going her way like this, again, fate seemed to conspire against her as Angela felt herself losing altitude. Not rapidly enough for her to panic, but enough to make it clear that they were going to get nowhere near their objective.

Hawk and Lise had somehow got themselves ahead of Duran, perhaps because even without his armour he carried more weight than either of them. But even they weren't going to sail over Rolante's walls any time soon. It seemed as if Lise's plans regarding the thermals hadn't worked, or at least she'd misjudged the distance somehow.

Angela knew that she had to do something otherwise they would all fall short. Using the calm she felt, she reached out and searched for the mana in the area, there was enough for her plan, but then she felt something else, a concentration of pure magical energy a few hundred meters ahead. That was the thermal, it had to be.

Losing altitude even more quickly now, Angela cast the air blast spell she'd been preparing. Suddenly Hawk and Lise soared back upwards, the currents of air taking them to just the right height. Angela smiled and began to use the same trick to lower her descent. There wasn't enough mana here for Duran, Kevin or her, they'd never be able to make it to the thermal let alone to Rolante. Silently weaving together another air blast she began to slow her own descent. Angela smiled, a magus would never have been able to do that.

* * *

Hawk didn't know exactly what had boosted him up so quickly, it wasn't the thermal, the burst had been too quick. Knowing her, it was probably Angela coming up with a plan at the last minute. She was good at thinking on her feet, as good as he was at least, sometimes, he thought she might actually be better.

Now of course wasn't the time to dwell on Angela. Dwelling on Angela led to thinking about the previous night. It had been good, well absolutely great, no doubt, but Hawk couldn't shake a feeling of betrayal. At the time it had felt fine, but looking back at it now, with the wind blowing in his face as Rolante grew closer and closer, he realised that it just wasn't right, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.

With Rolante now only a few seconds ahead of them, Hawk considered exactly how they were going to dismount from their gliders and not fly directly over the castle. More specifically he worried about how Lise was going to manage it, he wouldn't have trouble with a jump like that at speed, but she might have a few more problems. Looking at the castle he realised that the Eastern battlement was probably within range and given that even if they overshot they'd just head into the cliff-face it made sense to land there. As far as he remembered from his last trip since that battlement was facing directly away from the entrance from the Pathway to the Heavens it had the fewest troops on duty.

With a lot of yelling and movement of his glider Hawk thought he made Lise understand his point, if she didn't, he'd have to rely on her common sense to follow him. Hawk began to increase the speed of his descent, aiming to land somewhere in the middle of the wall so that he was as far away from the guard towers at either end as possible. Looking back he was glad to see Lise following a similar course to him. She was a smart girl, much smarter than she let on, it took a lot to run a kingdom and general an army at the same time. Lise would never admit to that though, she was far too modest. With her looks the girl could have any man under the sun and she just didn't realise it. That or she did realise it but was to humble to actually admit it and act on it.

Unfortunately now wasn't the time to be thinking about his amazon partner much as he did enjoy her company. Hawk could see a guard on his intended landing spot. An amazon it appeared. He didn't know what exactly was going on in Rolante castle or who was running the place now, but killing amazons was not something he was about to do. Yes, he'd killed those beastmen before but a single amazon wasn't exactly going to cause him much trouble and truth be told, he really didn't like killing women.

When he was about ten meters away Hawk pushed away from the glider, allowing it to carry on its path whilst he began to fall. To her credit the amazon was alert enough to actually spot him mid fall, but by then it was already too late. Hawk's silhouette slice landed dead on, as he appeared behind her and smash her around the head with the flat of his blade. The amazon fell forwards unconscious.

Hawk glanced around for a sign of more guards, he could make out flames further down the battlement and that's when he realised that his amazon friend had been carrying a torch of her own. If her torch had fallen the other guards must have known what was going on. Hawk wheeled round in the hopes of finding it on the floor, only to come face to face with another amazon. This one however, was one he was rather glad to see, Lise, holding the torch in front of him.

"Gorgeous, how did you get there without me knowing?"

Lise smiled at him, "Just because you're the nightblade doesn't mean I can't be stealthy, besides I'm almost as fast as you are without my armour on."

Hawk had sort of forgotten that Lise wasn't wearing her armour this evening, with the mountain climbing, which he certainly wasn't a fan of he hadn't really had time to take stock of the state of attire which his friends were in. As always Lise somehow managed to seem striking even though she was wearing clothes almost as dark as his own, it was a wonder that she could hide so well.

"Remind me to get your armour off more often then," Hawk replied in hushed tones. Even with the torchlight painting her face with an orange glow he could tell he'd made her blush. Hawk always enjoyed doing that, even now when they were trying to break into Rolante castle. Somehow Hawk always felt that for all she blushed and protested Lise actually liked it as well.

"Come on Hawk, we've got to get to the throne room," was all Lise said in return, but she sounded upset for some reason. It couldn't have been what he said, she'd heard stuff like that from him thousands of times before. Perhaps it was just the idea of having to attack her own home that was getting to her. But that wasn't like her at all, Lise with a job to do was unflappable.

Hawk knew it wasn't something he should be thinking about and attempted to get back to the task at hand. Sadly for him, Lise didn't seem to be worrying about it quite as much as he was and had started to climb down the battlement, using her fallen comrade's spear to prop up the torch she had been holding. Hawk followed, reaching the bottom a few seconds after his blond haired friend did.

Lise motioned for silence and then for Hawk to follow her. Hawk put his faith in the star lancer to guide them true, she did know all the troop movements and every room in the castle like the back of her hand after all. The fact that her new black leggings were tight fitting was a bonus that he was willing to go without but one that he simply couldn't ignore in this situation.

Lise led Hawk like a master thief in her own right. Sure there were a few close calls with the elite guards just outside the grand chamber, but then there always were. They'd managed to distract that lot through subtle use of a rock and their surprisingly good climbing ability to make it in through a window that they'd managed to pry open. Lise hadn't been very pleased that it had been left unlocked. The grand chamber itself wasn't as bad, the star lancer had never liked keeping valuable things on display to impress her guests, as Hawk recalled it was something to do with teaching all her visitors humility. Hawk wasn't sure if he'd ever really been taught humility but then he'd never really been invited to the castle, he'd just broken in twice and seen Lise there once since and even then, it wasn't a formal invite or anything. Hawk supposed he didn't really need a formal invite to Rolante though, it felt more like his home away from home than anywhere else really, even if he'd only been there three times. Perhaps it was because Lise was there, he felt more comfortable around her.

Unfortunately their easy ride was brought to an end when they reached the throne room near the rear of the castle. Hawk remembered this place from years ago, he'd fought Bill and Ben here for the first time. He'd managed to avoid killing them then, but that hardly mattered, they'd just come back and allowed him to fail his friends once more. Their faces still haunted him and being just outside that place again, that just made it worse.

The guards were just outside the doors and unlike everywhere else in the castle there wasn't an alternate route in. Plus they were on a balcony of sorts so they couldn't distract the guards to anywhere but the hiding spot Hawk and Lise had taken cover in. Hawk looked at the amazon, somewhat confused, for once he couldn't come up with a plan.

Lise, still looking spectacular as ever in her ninja garb, which is what Hawk had named it, just smiled at him confidently; It was at that point that she walked out of the shadows and directly into the faces of the guards.

"Anya, Melina, let Hawk and me in right now and make sure nobody disturbs us." To their credit, the guards looked confused only for a second before opening the doors and allowing the two of them in. Hawk quickly strode so that he was side by side with Lise as they walked into the antechamber, where they'd fought Genova all those years ago.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" he whispered at her, sure he liked sneaking around, but waltzing straight in was a damn sight easier and less tiring.

"And miss the fun?" all she had to do was grin at him and Hawk really didn't care that much any more, it had been worth it. Besides he was sure she'd tell him later anyway.

But as they walked in to the throne room, it was the amazon's turn to be lost for words. On the throne, Hawk saw the last person he would have ever expected, "Elliot?"

***

Lise was shocked, alright, saying she was shocked was an understatement. She tried to say something, anything and all that came out was a croak. This couldn't be happening. Her brother, he would never turn against her, she cherished him more than anyone else, how could he?

This must be some kind of trick, an illusion designed to mess with her head. That's what Lise thought, it had to be. It didn't make sense for Elliot to take the throne anyway, he had no reason to, he was going to be King in a few years anyway, hell why even wait for her to leave, he probably could have claimed the throne at any point he wanted as it was.

But he was still there, facing her, gloating at his success. Illusion or not Elliot seemed to be there and no amazon would question him, which is why it had been so easy for them to overthrow the kingdom.

Lise quickly looked to Hawk, he was as surprised as she was, Lise could tell that much, but outwardly the nightblade seemed composed and calm. No matter what, if Hawk had a job to do, he'd get it done. It was what she admired most about him, even if he acted like a rogue and a carefree drifter, that wasn't the real Hawk. What she saw in front of her, that was the real Hawk and that was what she took inspiration from. Of course that was the same Hawk that was oblivious to the fact that she'd kissed Duran, and that was the same Hawk who had gone back to Angela despite everything the two of them had been through.

Lise, despite letting herself get sidetracked by her emotional problem again, composed herself and was about to speak, but she never got that chance.

"Ah, sister, how good of you to join us here, in my Kingdom of Rolante. I'd have given you a warmer welcome but you dropped in unannounced so I'm afraid my hospitality won't be at its best." Elliot grinned at her, but it wasn't the charming smile she was used to, but one filled with malice and evil intent.

Lise had been so focused on her brother that she hadn't even taken note of the other people present in the room, surrounding her were at least six amazons, standing just behind his throne, to his right though was another surprise.

Lise had always thought Samantha to be one of the best amazons she'd trained in the past few years. Everything she did was instinctive, she never had to be taught anything more than once and her grasp of tactics was better than most of Lise's generals. In fact she had been the one to suggest that Lise see the Priestess of Light to begin with. And that fact made this situation a lot more interesting.

"Samantha stay in the room, everyone else leave immediately," proclaimed Elliot, the boy sounded almost, regal, but it didn't feel right coming from his mouth.

Obediently the amazons all left the chamber, some stared at Lise as if she was an old friend the others as if they'd never seen her before in her life. Needless to say they were experienced enough to know that something big was happening and they wouldn't be very far away.

"And do not enter this room for the next hour, you all have time off," and that swiftly Elliot cut off the support she might otherwise have. If the amazons considered Elliot their leader, they wouldn't disobey the order even if they disagreed with it.

The door closed behind the last amazon, Lise suspected a fenrir knight, and they were alone. Lise waited in silence for Elliot to say something, but was in for a surprise as Samantha strode forward, "Oh Lise, the look on your face when you saw Elliot, priceless."

Lise remained silent, she wasn't sure what to expect, she didn't want to make a mistake, "So quiet? We're old friends remember? I'm the one who sent you away, you know, that amazon you trusted almost as much as your dear Eliza. She's not doing too well by the way, we left her in the dungeons, she's fed and watered, perhaps a little too much for your liking," Samantha let out a quiet chuckle, it was menacing.

Lise finally broke her self imposed silence, "How did you do it Sam?"

"What? No asking why? No asking why I betrayed years of friendship to stab you in the back?" Samantha almost sounded hurt.

"There's no need to ask," Hawk interjected. "You're all the same, all as predictable as each other. You get suckered in by the promises of power and riches and before you know it you're killing your friends and giving up your soul."

Samantha positively cackled at that comment, "Oh please, I didn't need any help getting to this position, you can't imagine how easy it was seducing my 'beloved' Elliot, before he knew it, my spell was cast and now, the poor boy's just my puppet. All he asks of me is a kiss now and then," Samantha, walking back, turned Elliot's face by the chin and gave him a deep kiss, flaunting it, loving every moment. The dragon master finally broke away, "Mmmm, not bad for someone so young, I was surprised actually with how much he's grown," she let the word float for a second, letting it and the anger Lise was feeling sink that little bit deeper.

Samantha began to pace in front of Elliot, who hadn't moved an inch for himself since he'd last spoken, "You were never worthy of your crown Lise, you were a second rate tactician and a weak star lancer, the only way you ever managed to survive your battles seven years ago was because your friends carried you along," Lise tried to remain calm, but what Samantha said cut deep, deeper than Lise would like to admit. "It was frustrating, watching you bungle your way through every possible event put before you. It was frustrating that you were queen and general not through any skill but through your birthright, it was frustrating that I wasn't in your position, hell that I wasn't even second in command, that idiot Eliza got the place. So, I took matters into my own hands and here I am, with your brother as my puppet and you my 'queen' about to die at my feet."

"But now, I think it's time that you met a little friend of mine Lise, now you will see exactly how talented I truly am," Samantha started muttering some words beneath her breath and it took Lise but a second to understand what she was doing. Unfortunately, it was a second too long.

A light brighter than the midday sun shone from the dragon master, Lise was blinded, turning away as soon as she could. From the corner of her eye she saw Hawk make a movement that could only be him throwing shurikens at Samantha, yet instead of hearing the anguished screams of a traitor having her flesh ripped open, Lise heard a metallic clang followed by the sound of the shurikens turning to the floor.

As she turned she found that the shurikens had bounced of scales and well, those scales belonged to a rather large claw, which in turn belonged to a giant bloody dragon and atop the giant bloody dragon was a traitorous bitch who thought she should be queen of the amazons.

Jormungand, well, he was a sight to say the least. No amazon since Lise herself had been able to summon their guardian, yes they were Fenrir Knights and Star Lancers in name, but with mana the way it was, they could never do that. How Samantha had done it, Lise didn't know, how she was that powerful to begin with, Lise didn't know, but what she did know is that even with Marduke by her side she had been beatable and so was Samantha. Judging by the look on her face though the turncoat didn't think that was a possibility.

Lise didn't need Hawk to tell her what he was going to do, things were intuitive between them. They'd killed god beasts together and Jormungand, was just another big monster that needed cutting down. Lise cast Speed Up without even thinking and watched as Hawk leaped into the air like a bird taking flight, the winds themselves behind him. Lise however, only figured out why Hawk was jumping when she saw the torrent of flame directed at her, coming directly from the dragon's mouth.

Lise emulated Hawk's leap, springing clear of the blast as it incinerated the floor beneath them. Jumping that high wasn't difficult, without her armour she felt far lighter and more agile than normal, unfortunately as Lise began her descent, she realised the problem with such a jump. It was very hard to avoid flailing claws on the way down, especially if you weren't a ninja like a certain friend of hers. So whilst Hawk managed to turn his jump into a downward slice across the belly of the beast, Lise was smashed in the side by a rather large dragon claw.

Lise really didn't have time to scream out in pain the way she wanted to as she was flung across the room into a wall, smashing into it with a rather audible thud. Opening her eyes she saw the world around her blur for a second as her eyes took time to refocus. Then of course she realised that she was in absolutely excruciating pain. Attempting to move her right arm, she concluded that while nothing was seriously damaged, the cuts and bruises and probably fractures along her arm were enough to make using it absolute hell. Then again, she'd been through a lot worse in her time, a hell of a lot worse and she wasn't going to let some usurper whore take her damn place with a thirty second fight.

Fortunately for her, Hawk was running ample interference. With her magic behind him, the nightblade was fast enough to almost just be a blur in front of her. Sure his daggers didn't hurt the dragon all that much, but that didn't matter when it had been cut open in fifty different places in a matter of seconds.

That however, was when Samantha decided that she wasn't satisfied with her dragon's current level of performance. Glaring at the Navarrian below her, Sam didn't appear to cast a spell, but when Hawk darted forward again, instead of being close to supersonic, he was merely blindingly fast. This unfortunately caught Hawk by surprise as well, leaving him off balance. It was amazing then, when he managed to dodge the dragon's left claw that swiped at him with an impromptu back flip. It was almost inevitable therefore that the second claw then hit him square in the stomach as the dragon lunged forward to connect.

It was the moment Lise saw the claw pierce into Hawk's belly that Lise screamed, it was a moment after that, when she had a single second of clarity. Jormungand was off balance now as well, his head was exposed, he was weak. Summoning everything she had, Lise leapt. She leapt to the top of the chamber, the winds, the goddess herself guiding her flight, she could feel it. She hadn't felt it for a long time. Then she plunged downwards, spear first.

Like a falling star, she landed on Jormungand. Her spear pierced deep into his head, there was no blood, but Gods didn't bleed. Lise took a second to look at Samantha. The dragon master looked terrified, Lise, her smile, her smile was one of glee as she twisted the spear deeper into the dragon's head.

Jormungand, tried to roar, but nothing came out. The dragon crumpled, falling to the ground, before simply fading away. Lise's spear came lose as Lise herself dropped to the ground lightly. Without any hesitation however, Lise turned, only to find a spear flying directly towards her. Pure instinct made Lise return fire with her own polearm, but as she let go, something pushed her aside.

Lise got up to find Samantha, a spear through her chest, looking at her. Her look was one of ire, hatred but ultimately satisfaction as her eyes began to glaze. Lise then turned to find Hawk, lying where she had been standing, a spear through the right side of his midriff, next to an already gaping wound.

He'd saved her again.

"Elliot get a healer," she screamed, somehow aware that her brother would be himself again, as she ran to her thief.

Lise, hurting and off balance, collapsed next to him, cradling his beautiful head in her arms, she couldn't lose him now. She still hadn't paid him back yet, she hadn't apologised to him about Duran, she hadn't yelled at him about Angela, she still hadn't said a word to him. She couldn't lose him because he was the only reason she'd got this far to begin with. He was the only reason she had been confused for all these weeks. Hell, he was the reason she hadn't been having nightmares.

And as she looked at him, in those gorgeous eyes, as she looked at that beautiful face, that perfect nose, Lise saw more than just the looks, more than just the man. Lise saw her future; she saw everything that she'd ever worked to protect, everything that she'd aspired to be and everything that she couldn't even begin to imagine yet.

"I love you, Hawk."

Hawk didn't respond, a look was all he needed to give her.

Hawk's eyes closed.

Writers Rants

Response to Reviewers

Fran: I do like Lugar, which is why writing that stuff about him was actually quite hard, but then I know a lot of other people like him as well and he was a good person to use for that. Elliot as you've read hopefully is a little better off in this respect.

Shaneypooh: Fair enough, I don't think that there's any sarcastic commentary here, but my narrative is basically the same as what my character is thinking in their head, or at least that's the way I see it. If I haven't done this clearly enough then so be it, I'll try to make that idea clearer throughout the fic. And Duran involving himself with Lise, that part made me smile a bit.

HawkofNavarre: I always try to offset my chapters if I can, so that we get an action oriented one followed by one where, let's face it, sexual tension slaps you in the face a few times. Duran's power is as yet still hidden and I want to keep it that way because I have plans… lots of plans. Hawk and Angela are like that in my opinion, Angela's lonely and Hawk is just bloody confused, they're both attractive, what else do you do with a combination like that?

Meerf: As always, ludicrous amounts to respond to in light of blindingly long review. Sentence structure is constantly being dealt with because it annoys me when I get it wrong.

Hawk wants Angela. Wait no, hold on, Hawk wants Lise, wait no. I like doing this, it's fun, although, who knows, it may be starting to clear up this chapter.

Lise's contribution stuff, well, this chapter Hawk had to take a spear for her, now what's she thinking? But with respect to Lise/Duran, I was always aware that given the time she had to warm to Duran it might not seem as plausible. Looking back I might have spun out a paragraph or so in the few chapters beforehand indicating it, but it seems to be a fairly moot point now.

All other things are taken into account, including the drunkenness at uni.

Witch Girl Pilar: Feelings of betrayal mainly, both concerning Hawk with Angela and her with Duran. And don't worry about not reviewing, it's nice, but then I should update more often as well.

Actual Rant

You can see that I'm posting this chapter well into term time, the reason for its delay is my laziness over Christmas as well as a few delightful assignments that I had to get done. In any case, I got some time during term itself and managed to get the last touches on this chapter done and boy, is it a long one.

I worry sometimes about how the story continuously swings from one romantic pairing to another and whether people will buy it or not. Personally though, I think the Lise/Hawk thing has been on the burner for a very, very long time and I figured that since every single one of their kisses up till now (grand total 2) has been in some stressful moment, this part should be as well. In doing this though, I've had to put a major romantic plot turn in a mainly action based chapter which of course means very little build up in the chapter itself, to an extent I feel it's good because it's a really big change of pace to what I usually do, but to an extent it might be bad because of the long time it takes for me to update my chapters and people forgetting things. In any case, that's more for you to decide.

As always, I'm looking for anyone who reads my fic to review it in some way, a word or two can really help me in my thinking process and a full review is something I endeavour to listen to and then improve upon. So if you do read, please, please, please say a few words about what you thought. As always, free invisible, unspreadable chocolate spread for those who review.


	24. An Escape

An Escape

Lise cradled Hawk's head in her arms. This adventure, she'd been here far too many times now. He was still breathing, just, but he was losing too much blood, the two separate gashes in his side, he couldn't hold on for very long with wounds like those, even if he was the greatest assassin the world had ever known. And again, all she could do was sit there, looking at his beautiful face, waiting, hoping that someone else could save him. Yes, she'd managed to kill that bitch traitor Samantha, spearing her right through her whore chest, but what did that matter if the dragon master took the nightblade with her.

Lise felt herself begin to slip in and out of consciousness, in her worry for Hawk she'd forgotten to tend to her own wounds which weren't inconsiderable. Typical, her lack of care had managed to get both of them killed. Lise struggled to stay awake as she heard the doors to the throne room crash open, but it was getting more difficult.

Lise heard the commotion just above her head, she didn't know quite when she'd fallen from being sitting upright to being face up on the floor. She could still however, feel Hawk's head resting against her and that at least gave her some comfort, knowing he was there.

"We can maybe save Queen Lise but Hawk?"

"Get that spear out of him now, not even healing magic can help him if it's still there."

Lise heard a grunt from the head lying on her, Hawk was so far gone he could barely feel a spear being ripped out of his abdomen.

Lise felt herself truly slipping away, she could hear her friends, but making out whole sentences was gradually becoming more difficult.

"Lucky it wasn't barbed,"

"Stop the bleeding, we need to stop the bleeding."

"Wound's too large, can't stitch it up."

"What do we do?"

"Heal them!"

"We can't, there isn't any mana left."

"Out of my way." Lise knew that voice.

"What can you do?"

"We've tried everything!"

"Hawk, wake up." It was so familiar, "Wake up Hawk, wa…"

"What are you?"

"Heal light!"

"My Lord!"

Lise couldn't see what had happened, but she could feel the shock radiating from the amazons.

"You'll be fine Lise." Hawk?

"I'm here sis," Elliot?

Lise tried to open her eyes, tried, "Heal light!" instead, her vision was taken by a green glow that seemed to engulf her.

* * *

Duran got off the boat to Sultan, since this little adventure of theirs had begun he'd become more and more suspicious of those rickety wooden tubs. The problem was, when you were on a boat you were so vulnerable and any idiot had a decent chance of killing you if he just managed to sink the ship. Even if he couldn't do that he still had you trapped in a confined space with nowhere to run. The faster Duran could get onto land the better.

Of course, the land he was stepping on to happened to be in the middle of a desert. And for a man wearing custom made Rolantian armour thick enough to deflect almost anything, well, being in the middle of a desert was not the best place in the world to be. Duran cursed under his breath. He put on his armour in the morning more by instinct than anything else now, a sensible person would have just carried it in a trunk, but no, not him, he had to go and wear his even though it was scorching hot outside.

That was why Duran liked Forcena, the only problem armour gave was potentially getting stuck in a mudhole and that only happened if you had a molebear trying to get friendly with you and couldn't pay attention. Everywhere else in the world seemed to have a problem Paladins, Altena cooled your armour to freezing, Rolante demanded that you climb up rock faces whilst carrying more than twice your own bodyweight, the Moonlight Forest liked tangling your feet in vines and then laughing at you as you fell and well Navarre, Navarre cooked you and then left you in sand drifts. The cooking and the being stuck weren't the worst parts though, what was more annoying was having to polish your armour after it had been scratched by fifty billion little grains of sand.

Duran was beginning to miss the boat already.

That said, the people of Sultan were smart enough to have their inn a stone's throw away from the harbour. The knowledge that he wouldn't be boiling in a few minutes made Duran's discomfort slightly more bearable.

Unsurprisingly, Duran was heading the pack of adventurers, his friends were in clothes more suited for the heat and seemed to be in no rush. Kevin was just behind Duran, the beastman had been riled up since Rolante. Much as he would never want to admit it, Kevin quite liked fighting. He'd always deny it and claim it to be concern for his friends, but Duran knew better. When it came down to it, there was something about the heat of battle that just allowed you to let yourself go. Before this trip, that was something the paladin had never really appreciated. Kevin would learn as he had though, Duran was sure of it.

Angela followed the beastman. Somehow she seemed to be wearing even skimpier clothes than usual. Then again, given that she could walk through a snowfield in her magician's outfit without feeling it, the heat of Navarre must have been taking more of a toll on her than she was letting on. That made her outfit which pretty much amounted to a bikini with a cape somewhat more reasonable in his eyes. Well, he probably would have found that outfit reasonable no matter what the weather, or at least, would have a few weeks ago. Seeing her kiss Hawk, it still stung, even now. Duran wondered what had made her do it, he wondered if he'd ever been good enough for her to begin with.

Duran didn't know what had compelled him to see Lise after that, yes she was beautiful and strong and yes, he'd thought of her in that way before. But Duran had never thought of himself as someone who was that, manipulative. Perhaps it was best not to dwell on the subject.

Still, it was hard not to look at Lise who was trailing the others with Hawk. The two had been talking with each other a lot more since Rolante. Duran didn't get exactly what had happened between the two of them there. At Palo it had seemed as if they couldn't be farther apart. Lise of course knew about what Hawk had done, but she probably hadn't been honest with Hawk herself. Then again, Duran was uncertain if the Navarrian would actually care. At least, he was in no position to pass judgement having been ever so slightly promiscuous over the course of their journey.

More surprising than the new dynamic between Hawk and Lise though was indeed how they managed to get out of Rolante alive. Duran couldn't understand how Elliot of all people had managed to replicate the green version of heal light. The boy didn't even have a knight's training, he couldn't even cast a normal heal light spell, hell the poor bastard had been brainwashed for the past few months. It made no sense to Duran. There must be some common ground between the two of them that allowed Elliot to do it. Duran however, couldn't understand where that common ground lay, what a Forcenan Paladin and a Rolantian Prince who'd barely had any combat training actually had in common with one another.

When Duran actually stopped to think about it there were still a lot of mysteries that had remained unsolved. Like how the traitors had managed to worm their way into friendships with all the major leaders in the world. Or who the real enemy was and how he was bringing back people that had been dead for a long time. They were at Navarre now and they were still no closer to solving the problem than they had been when they set out from Forcena. But what was even worse was that they were being tracked, hunted like dogs and they couldn't throw the thing that was hunting them off their scent. It frustrated Duran, a lot of things frustrated Duran now. Deep inside he knew he'd find a solution, he always did, like when he found a new source of power for his spells, but not knowing when that solution would come, or if it would come in time, it scared him.

Even if all this focusing on the future frightened Duran a little, it was better than concentrating on the now, the now where he was still baking inside his armour. That said, he was also only a few steps away from the inn. Duran, deciding that the faster he got out his armour the better, almost assaulted the innkeeper. He wasn't sure whether his heat addled babbling made matters faster or slower, but within a minute or so he was in a room and was scrabbling to get his armour off. Finally rid of the plate Duran collapsed onto his bed. He was sure the others would be along shortly.

Duran looked out the window, it would be sunset soon enough, he could relax; maybe play cards with his friends before they went to Navarre. All Duran really knew was that right now he really needed some rest.

* * *

Angela didn't know what had compelled her to go to the roof of the inn. Whilst Navarre boiled in the day it was freezing at night. Not that Angela was used to anything but the freezing cold, but ordinarily being inside the inn would have been something she preferred.

Perhaps she just needed some space, some time to think. Being with her friends was fun but that was time where she constantly had to keep up her guard. Knowing as many secrets as she did was its own burden.

Deep down though, she knew that secrets weren't weighing her down. A day in court was a lot worse and she had had more than her fair share of those. Ever since her mother's death, well supposed death, she'd been dealing with the ins and outs of politics. A few secrets even among her best friends shouldn't and couldn't be the issue.

Perhaps though, it was linked to seeing her mother again. For all Angela had been shocked there, she had been too busy, too caught up in her own business to really let what had happened sink in. To really deal with the problem she saw. Sure, her mother hadn't paid her any mind as a child. That didn't mean the she didn't love her. Her mother had proven that when they'd finally killed the Dragon Emperor and saved her from Koren.

So her mother was under a powerful mind control spell, but that still didn't explain how she was back from the dead. That was what was really getting to Angela. She'd been there; she'd seen her mother die. It hadn't been painful, in a way it was beautiful and now someone had the audacity to disrespect not only her mother but everyone else who cared about her. Angela didn't want to stand for it, she wanted to make it stop, but she couldn't, she felt so helpless.

But it wasn't just that though. Something else had gone wrong. Hawk, he should have been in her pocket by now. After what had happened in Palo, guys never left her alone after that. Hell, Hawk had had trouble after one kiss. She couldn't for the life of her understand what had changed though. He had almost died in Rolante, she knew that, but Hawk was a man to set the job and personal interests apart and it was pretty damn unlikely that he had decided she wasn't worth it whilst profusely bleeding from the stomach. It wouldn't have annoyed her so much if she was just using him, but damnit she actually liked Hawk and to have him do this to her was unfair.

Silently Angela began to think about bringing Hawk back round. She then began considering whether it was even worth trying any more. He'd had his shot, far too many times and every time he just threw it back in her face. Perhaps he just wasn't worth the trouble; perhaps he'd never been worth the trouble.

Angela heard footsteps from behind her; slowly she turned around to see a dagger being thrust at her.

Instinct kicked in and she dove, screaming in pain as she felt the slice across her side. Even though she was an archmage, Angela still had a fair bit of combat prowess and despite her pain managed to convert her dive into a roll, ending with her crouching and facing the threat.

The threat however, wasn't a singular threat. He'd brought a friend. From their attire they were ninjas, no doubt from Navarre. Despite their powers of stealth being somewhat lacking by comparison to Hawk, they were no slouches. They had the only escape route, the stairs back down to the inn cut off, leaving Angela with a choice between getting stabbed a lot and falling to her death.

Angela was under no illusions, a fight between her and two ninjas unarmed would lead to a very, very swift death. She couldn't blast the buggers with magic either, it would be easy to dodge and she'd have no mana left for anything else. She needed to bait them, if she was to kill them it had to be when she couldn't miss. But, of course, there was the problem that she was stuck on a completely flat roof with nowhere to run.

The ninjas were taking their time though, they seemed worried that she'd attack them or had some sort of backup plan. They were right to be cautious, but their hesitation would probably end up being their downfall. That was a small benefit of being a world famous mana warrior.

She looked back, over the edge of the roof, there was no way she'd survive the fall, but, Angela glanced at the next building over, there was a ladder on the wall to get to the roof. If she could get a grip on that she might be able to get into the alley below. It was a long jump though, very long.

The ninjas began their short dash towards her, panic set in. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Angela jumped onto the edge of the roof and sprung off. Her heels had never really been designed for this kind of work, but they endured. Working magic as she jumped, Angela used a sliver of mana to propel herself further than her normal jump would have allowed.

Her leap took her high, just above the shurikens that the ninjas had launched at her. Not sure how to land, Angela extended her arms and a foot, hoping something would land on target. All three did, but her foot landed first. Angela screamed in pain as she felt her foot get crushed between the wall and the ladder's rung, her ankle buckling under the pressure of being caught between a rock and an air blast assisted jump.

Trying to work through the pain, even though her eyes were watering and somewhat blinding her, Angela scuttled down the ladder to the alley floor. All she had to do was get to the front entrance of the inn and she was safe. She screamed again as she tried to put pressure on her right ankle again. It was sprained at best, broken at worst. She winced, bloody hell it hurt.

As she turned to face the exit leading to the inn's front door she was greeted by a thud. Her friends apparently hadn't given up that easy. The ninja stood up, blocking the way out. She didn't know where his friend was, probably still observing from the roof, but it didn't matter, in her condition one ninja blocking her way was going to get her killed.

She looked back at the ladder and up, only to see the second ninja, leap the full distance to the other rooftop and stare down at her. She'd used an air blast and still couldn't make the jump and he could do it without any effort? That wasn't fair at all.

Angela heard footsteps behind her and ducked. A knife flew past her head and got embedded in the ladder. As best she could Angela dashed forwards, cursing every time she put pressure on her ankle. The ninja was probably just behind her, the archmage pivoted on her one leg and closed her eyes, "Holy Ball!" Using another sliver of mana, Angela blasted an underpowered holy ball into the eyes of her new admirer. He screamed, it wouldn't do any lasting damage, anything more would have hurt her aswell, but for the moment he was blinded.

Angela hobbled round the corner. A street and an alley and she was home free. Her leg gave out from under her; a whole street and a whole alley.

* * *

Kevin laughed, the boat had been cramped and the mess hall had only really had room for two or three people at the same time, not counting crew. It was nice to be around a warm fire with friends in the evening. Even though he was stuck in human form at night, Kevin was still happy. They'd given up really trying to keep a low profile. The problem was they were so famous that almost anyone could recognise them, even if they tried to go in disguise. Short of magic, which would be blindingly obvious to a magic user anyway, it was all too easy for people to figure out who they were just from the way they carried themselves and acted unconsciously. Whoever was in Navarre would know they were coming, but with a little luck, they wouldn't know exactly when. Their group was small enough that they would keep pace with any scouts so the best Navarre could hope for was a two minute warning.

Kevin did know of defence plans that could be implemented in two minutes. He didn't know of defence plans that could be implemented in two minutes that would stop five angry mana warriors from tearing the place to shreds.

So Kevin for the first time he could remember was actually able to kick back and relax. Yes, the worry about what was going to happen at Navarre was in the back of his mind and yes, the overall trouble with still not knowing who their enemy was also got on his nerves, but he wasn't going to let that affect him, not tonight. Kevin took a gulp from his glass of water. Besides, if he was well rested then when they did leave they were all the more likely to succeed.

The common room of the Sultan inn wasn't exactly big, but it was cosy in Kevin's opinion. Even though he was stuck in human form, he didn't want to scare anybody; it still felt like he was at home, in the beast kingdom.

His friends probably had something to do with the homely feeling. Hawk was nattering away with one of the barmaids, he wasn't overtly flirting, but Kevin could tell from the look of the girl that she was completely enthralled, Hawk could have been talking about the price of fish and he still would have had an attentive listener. A long time ago Kevin would have thought Hawk was actually looking for something more with the barmaid, but time had allowed him to understand that in reality this was just the nightblade's way of letting off some steam.

Kevin considered the Navarrian, Hawk did have one other way of letting off steam, but Kevin figured some harmless flirting with a barmaid was probably preferable to all the well off people in Sultan mysteriously finding that their riches had gone missing. The thief claimed he only stole from the rich and greedy, but Kevin found it somewhat difficult to believe him, there were only so many rich and greedy people and you could only steal from the same guy so many times. Still, Hawk had been a lot better regarding his chosen profession over the course of the trip, that said, they hadn't needed the money nearly as much as they had on their last trip.

Of course, then Kevin looked at Lise who was sharing the couch with Hawk and began to wonder whether at least in the short term, thievery might be the better option of the two. Kevin still didn't get human relationships. He really did try to understand, then again, the only person who had really understood him on that level was a 15 year old half-elf. Understanding relationships was probably going to be more difficult for him than most, thinking about them made him hurt, they made him remember her.

Still, Lise and Hawk appeared to have patched things up somehow. They hadn't been talking, before Rolante. Well, they had, but not in the way that they did now, or had done before. Kevin was happy for them, but the tenuous nature of the relationships between his friends left him sceptical as to whether this would last, especially if Hawk kept on smiling at that waitress.

But Hawk never got in any real trouble for what he did. Kevin was pretty certain that the thief himself knew that. Kevin even recalled Hawk mentioning a girl in Navarre he'd left behind before leaving for Wendel, Kairen was her name? In the nightblade's position he would have been paranoid about how Lise was going to react, but Hawk just didn't seem to care, it was as if he would just take it in his stride.

Kevin stretched, he was glad for the peace and quiet though, Angela was meant to have been down by now, but knowing her she'd probably just been delayed by a single hair out of place.

* * *

Angela spluttered as she ate grains of sand. Her wrists and knees hurt like absolute fire, she'd grazed them as she'd fallen. Streets paved with stone and covered in sand would do that, they weren't really designed to provide any give for a person who fell.

Of course the pain there was swiftly drowned out by her ankle which felt it necessary to hurt like a bitch and immobilise her. The second ninja, the one on the roof, would be around the corner any second, hell he might even drop down on her back.

Between her and the next turn was a small merchant's stall. It might afford her at least a little cover, it would stop a shuriken in the back at least, although the ninjas really seemed more focused on stabbing her than making her back a pin cushion.

Angela pushed herself back to her feet, resting everything on her one good leg. Blast, even getting up took a lot out of her. The archmage began her slow hobble to the stall, she was the Queen of Reason damnit, two bloody incompetent ninjas weren't going to be the end of her. She was so powerful that nations moved to accommodate her, she would not go down like this.

Angela channelled her anger, her rage at being humiliated like this, she made that the more prominent wound in her mind. The pain was nothing compared to that. She powered forward, the merchant's stall getting closer by the second.

Then her foot gave out again, sending her tumbling over the counter. As she fell, Angela heard the thud of daggers into wood. Then her head bumped on the pavement and she became slightly more concerned by the fact that the world was spinning around her and she was now face up on the floor.

Angela closed her eyes, it made things slightly better. The daggers, he was right behind her and she was prone on the floor. Angela scrabbled around, hoping, praying that there would be something to help her. She tipped over a bin, hiding behind the stall; it was the only thing there.

Angela's hand pawed through the contents of the bin and almost froze as the Queen of Reason came face to face with one of her assailants, leaning over the counter, staring down at her with those cold, emotionless eyes. He drew up his dagger as her hand got a grip on something sharp. Angela screamed, a garble of words, but for a split second the ninja hesitated, perhaps he though it was a spell. Angela stabbed what seemed to be a sharp piece of glass into the assassin's neck. The glass pierced his skin, lodging itself firmly in place. The ninja went down, if only for the moment. Angela looked at her hand, it was bleeding; cutting herself was worth the time she'd bought though, her hand would heal.

She rolled over, pushing herself up and cursing as her bleeding hand was exposed to the sand. The first ninja should have recovered from her holy ball by now, he was tailing her. Angela staggered out of the stall, this time by the entrance as opposed to over the counter, trying not to focus on the pain and forced herself into the alley. Only one alley left, one long alley.

* * *

Kevin took another swig of his water. He didn't drink alcohol, at least not in the company of humans. A drunken beastman was not something that someone would want in their inn and he had a terrible habit of forgetting to maintain his human form when inebriated.

Hawk had finally thought better of speaking to his new waitress friend and now appeared to be frantically explaining what he was doing to Lise. She didn't look pleased to say the least. That said, there was a knowing glint in her eye, Kevin didn't think the amazon was actually annoyed at Hawk, but putting on a show. He wouldn't have expected that coming from Lise, but maybe she thought Hawk expected that of her.

Kevin concluded that even after a whole minute of observation he still didn't understand human relationships.

Turning his attention away from the two on the couch, Kevin wondered where Angela was again. She really shouldn't have taken this long. He'd give it a few more minutes and check, nothing felt wrong but it was always better to be sure. She would at least give Duran someone to talk to. The paladin was nursing his pint of beer and staring into nothing.

Kevin was almost always happy to sit back and just listen to his friends talk amongst themselves. After living in the beast kingdom so long he still wasn't used to the pace of a human conversation, so he had enough trouble keeping up with it. But what was more is that Kevin knew that you could learn so much more by just listening than you could by weighing in yourself. At least he found it to be that way, some people had the ability to do both incredibly well without really trying. Angela was probably the best example of that, but then the Altenan court would do that to anybody.

Duran on the other hand wasn't the kind of person to be quiet. He might come off that way, but Kevin had known him too long. Duran didn't say much sure, but he always said something, or at least tried to. He didn't like to feel alone and if he wasn't contributing to a conversation well, Duran didn't feel he was part of the group to which that conversation belonged. For all Kevin didn't understand relationships he did understand a good deal about the way his friends thought.

Kevin would have said something but by his reckoning the conversation would just end up trailing off uncomfortably, usually they could talk about being kings and business but that conversation was worn out by now and Kevin really didn't have the gift of the gab.

Besides, the beastman was more concerned about some other issues regarding his friend, like the aggressive streak he was developing. A death hand himself, Kevin understood getting lost in the heat of battle, he really did, but Duran wasn't a death hand, he wasn't a gladiator, he was a paladin and that just wasn't their way. It was strange though, the class change was meant to reflect your deepest desires and your personality, but it seemed as if paladin didn't fit Duran's at all. Or at least it didn't now. Perhaps it was possible that the class change only reflected what you wanted to be at the time, perhaps experiences could change people and make it obsolete.

Kevin almost shook his head, but that made no sense, a class change was more than a reflection of one's personality, it was an innate part of who you are. The alignment of your class influenced you in ways that couldn't fully be described; it was a two way link. So how could Duran be so flagrantly defying that?

Kevin sunk into his chair, puzzles annoyed him.

* * *

Angela collapsed in a heap on the alley floor. Judging by the smell and the two bins in front of her the innkeeper dumped the waste here. The ninja was right behind her, but she couldn't move, not without some rest. Her ankle, it had hurt like fire before, but now, she didn't know how she was still conscious.

Angela tried to think, tried to shut out the pain. She needed rest, but there was a man right behind her who wanted nothing more than to see her in a pool of her own blood. So what could she do? She could find a place to hide. That was it. Where though?

For a few moments Angela stared at the bins, she felt as if her brain was trying to tell her something but the pain in her ankle; it hurt so much. She needed to hide, that was what she needed to do. Well that meant she needed a hiding place. Her hand, it hurt too, she was making it worse by digging her nails into it. Where could she hide? The bins, she needed to do something with the bins. That was it!

Angela opened the lid of one of the bins as the other tipped up due to a stray leg, and wriggled for all she was worth.

She heard the ninja turn the corner and enter the alley. Ninjas didn't speak, but this one must have been fuming mad by now.

Please don't find me, please don't find me.

She heard him run next to the bins.

Please don't find me, please don't find me.

He stopped.

Oh crap, shit, shit, shit.

The ninja slowly extended his hand to the bin lid, Angela could feel its caress on the handle.

This is it.

The ninja opened the bin, to find nothing.

Angela didn't know when she'd fallen over and wriggled into the bin she'd tipped up, but she was glad she had now, her spell was ready.

The ninja continued down the alley and that was when he presented his back to the archmage.

A fireball arched out of the bin, he turned and for a second, if only a second, Angela could see the shock in his eyes. He didn't scream, the fireball got to him before that. One moment he was a ninja, the next, the alley was bathed in an orange glow and the moment after that there was nothing but a smouldering corpse. For all she was powerful she never liked to see the consequences of her work. That ninja had had a face once, now all that remained was a mess of burned skin and blood.

Angela wriggled out of her hiding place, she didn't know how far behind his friend was, the glass to his neck should have kept him down for a while at least, but these ninjas, they had a dark power driving them, she could sense it. If it wasn't fatal he wouldn't stay down.

Despite the rest she had to stifle another howl as she put pressure on her ankle. At least her vision wasn't blurring, she could think past the pain right now. Continuing her stagger, she managed to turn the final corner, she could see the inn's entrance.

She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, from the pain and the relief, she hobbled, willing herself forward with every ounce of resolve she had. Finally Angela reached the door, leaning against it, closing her eyes to try and hide the tears, she was finally home. She began to laugh, despite the pain or because of it, she didn't know, she didn't care any more.

Her laughter only came to a stop when she felt as if the temperature had risen a few degrees. Angela opened her eyes; the only thing she saw was the blood and the shard of glass.

Angela was blown through the door.

Writer's Rants:

Meerf: I'll always vehemently deny that Lise is second rate, she's awesome but I always thought she'd picture herself that way, even if it wasn't logical.

I always wondered myself if weaving my OCs into prominent plot positions was a good move. I think it was because just bringing back every villain from before is somewhat pointless; they already beat them after all. I suppose I could have foreshadowed what was going to happen more but they felt like one chapter villains so I didn't think I needed it all that much.

I actually looked up Marduk and Jormungand for this to make sure I was getting stuff right, I figure that Marduk could in our world completely total the other summons but I figure in the SD3 world they were meant to be somewhat equal perhaps it was an assumption that I shouldn't have made. I took your advice regarding the action scene thing, or at least tried to, I think Angela's escape takes up about half this chapter or so. Commas, they are being dealt with, hopefully this is better paced in terms of sentence structure. The pairings will remain secret to the very end, although you're right about L/D needing a lot of work. The thing is coming to its close, I'm estimating about three or four more chapters, maybe five.

HawkofNavarre: Pairings secret till end! Enjoy massive confusion! With regards to Samantha, to an extent I think the characters feel the same way you do. They'd forgotten about these people from the beginning, they'd assumed they were harmless and wouldn't do much and now suddenly they're in power. But of course that may not be good writing, perhaps I should have mentioned them in passing throughout the story. I'm working on punctuation all the time, hopefully it's better, if not yell at me. Finally, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last.

Shaneypooh: Frequent updates are not my strong point sadly, university demands much of my time so I only get the holidays for writing, I'll try and get another one out soonish but continuous updates really need a summer. Also good call on the Pedan error, I'll fix that. Hope you liked this chapter as well.

Actual Rant:

I've been focusing on the relationships a lot with the last couple of chapters, it's just the way the story panned out. This chapter was about the other things in my story, the action, the friendships. Plus hopefully it'll keep you guessing as to where I'm going with the romantic side for a little longer. I'm happy with how it has come out but I also (inevitably) worry about it being slightly different from the normal formula. Hopefully variety still remains the spice of life. A lot of you thought the combat sequence from the previous chapter was also a bit short so a lot of detail has gone into that side for this one. Perhaps I can maintain a better balance for the final bit.

Speaking of which, I'm going to keep writing despite (as always) the long period in between updates, I'm drawing close to the end of this thing so with a little luck you guys won't be faced with another four years spent waiting. Read and review please, if you didn't like it, liked it, whatever. Even if you just glanced at it, sending even a couple of words as a review really helps me as a writer. So in accordance with this. free invisible intangible chocolate biscuits for all who review!


	25. Fear

Fear

Duran was cut off mid sentence as the door collapsed inwards. Shards of wood blasted across the common room, embedding themselves in paintings and walls, Duran only just got his hands up to cover his eyes. The room, he could make out was bathed in an orange glow and he could feel the heat of what could only be flames emanating from the door. However, the heat subsided quickly and any shock that had overcome Duran subsided at the scene before him. Angela, his Angela, lay slumped against the wall opposite the door.

Fury overtook Duran. He rushed to the door and saw, slumped in a way eerily similar to Angela, what could only be a ninja. He dashed forward, his rage driving him and lifted the man up by the throat.

"You will pay for what you have done," slamming the Navarrian against the wall was easy, so he did it again before throwing the man to the floor. Mounting him, Duran delivered the first punch to the man's jaw and he kept punching. Blow after blow hit the man's veiled face, reaching unprotected skin. Duran revelled in the feeling, revelled as with each punch he felt his frustrations disappear, felt his anger at what had happened to Angela disappear. And then something stopped him, he tried to continue, but his arm was being held back.

"Duran, you need to stop, Angela's alive, you can heal her," the voice belonged to someone he knew, but it was hesitant, almost scared. Duran turned to see Lise. Her eyes filled with concern, her face frowning the way only she could. She was scared. She was scared of him. Duran felt an emotion, deep beneath the surface, buried below his fury. The shock rose through his body until finally it hit him and then came the shame. Rising away from the ninja Duran turned and ran back to the inn, knowing that one of his best friends in the world couldn't stand to be near him.

All concern for himself or Lise was washed away however, when he saw the state of Angela. There wasn't a part of her that hadn't been burnt. Her skin, so fair, so beautiful had been burnt badly enough as to turn it black, bone piercing through the puckered skin at her knees. And the smell, oh light, smell of burnt flesh wafted into Duran's nostrils, it poisoned his mind, he wanted to scream. He couldn't think, he could barely breathe and yet he began to work, driven by the woman before him who should have been dead.

Duran knelt next to her, almost reverently and held his hands above her, being careful not to touch the charred skin. Closing his eyes he immediately drew upon the powers of chaos he had been granted, a power greater than that of the dead Goddess. The power flowed through him, touched every one of his veins and he felt a euphoria far greater than what he felt when he beat the ninja to death. Drawing on it deeply, more so than he had ever done before, he felt the blue glow envelope Angela, "Chaos Light!" he felt himself shout and then the euphoria was gone, replaced by a sense of longing as if he were no longer complete.

As he opened his eyes he found her, perfect as ever. Angela, his Angela, lay before him, eyes closed, but still breathing and beyond the lingering stench of roasted flesh there was nothing of the horror before to be seen. A part of Duran wanted to wake her, hear her voice after what had happened, but instead, gently, ever so gently he picked her up.

And then it hit him, the sound of the inn, his friends laughing with both joy and relief. Everything that he had instinctively blocked out hit him like a blow from a hammer. Emotions buried deeply away as he worked resurfaced. Duran wasn't a man to cry, but he could feel tears of relief welling up, blinking them away he just smiled at his friends.

"She's going to be fine guys, although you might need to quiet down, she needs rest," that brought about silence rather quickly.

Regardless, Kevin clapped his hand on Duran's shoulder, almost putting him off balance were it not for the Beastman's iron grip "How did you do it Duran? I've seen you heal people, but this was nothing short of," Kevin paused, finding the word, "miraculous!"

"It's this new power," Duran responded simply, "there's more of it so I don't have to ration it the same way I do mana, I could heal almost anything with this." Kevin nodded his head accepting the explanation but Hawk's expression took a dark cast to it. Lise, well she was too busy staring at Angela in what Duran could only think was pure awe. For a moment Duran wondered if she still felt scared of him, but he pushed the thought out of his mind. Angela needed him now, his own feelings could wait.

"As I said before though, she needs rest, I'll take her up to her room. It might be best if one of us stays in the room with her at all times though," Duran felt his smile waver, "if the guild at Navarre find out about her state, well, I wouldn't be surprised if we get more unwelcome guests."

"I doubt it," Hawk's expression remained stony, "if you send out assassins and find that they fail, then another attack is worthless. If your best couldn't hit the target then how are they going to do it when security is doubled?" Hawk paused, pensive for a second, "It wouldn't be beyond them to double bluff us though and I'm sure none of us would mind staying with Angela for a few hours."

Sometimes Duran felt Hawk thought too much, if someone was weak you guarded them until they were better, that was all there was to it. He turned to the stairs, "I'll take the first watch and meet you guys in three hours."

Climbing the stairs was easy, Angela had always been light as a feather and right now Duran was grateful for that. He felt hollow without the chaos within him and he a felt a weariness that gnawed at him, more profound than any tiredness he'd felt before. Duran didn't understand, but he needed to be strong for Angela. Even if she had betrayed him, even if she had tossed him aside for Hawk, even if he, in his anger had kissed Lise, she still needed him and he would never let her down.

Opening the door to her room and placing her carefully onto her bed, Duran covered the Archmage in her blankets before taking a seat next to her.

He was almost shocked out of his chair when he heard a voice, quavering, weak, "Duran?"

"Angela, you need to sleep, you were hurt," Duran said clasping her left hand in both of his.

He felt her squeeze before she fell back to sleep.

* * *

It had been a tiring week for Lise. She stretched slightly, adjusting the tight fitting breeches she had taken to wearing. Her shirt was embroidered with flowers so whilst she wore men's clothing nobody would mistake her for one. Yes such clothes weren't exactly what people expected of an Amazon queen, but they were a damn sight more comfortable than her skirts. She looked over at her more formal clothes, carefully folded in a corner of the room. Yes they were beautiful but in Navarre bare skin meant sunburnt legs and she did not want to deal with them right now.

Lise had come to her room to relax, after the day's events she just needed time to herself, to think. As she lay on her bed she took a glance around. The room was sparsely decorated, simple but functional, the perfect place to just lay down and think.

In a way it had been the greatest week of her life, the days following the fight in Rolante had felt magical. Rolante had never been the most comfortable place in the world, but it was her place, her home. She had enjoyed, however briefly, sleeping in her own bed, walking the corridors she knew. Perhaps more enjoyable had been finding the hidden corners only she knew about and then thoroughly kissing Hawk until they were red in the face. Yes, more magical than being at home was knowing the truth, knowing that beneath it all, beneath the womanizing, beneath the charming, handsome exterior was a man who loved her.

Lise had never been the most feminine woman she knew. You didn't become an Amazon by being a touchy feely type, but it was nice to know that someone cared about you that deeply. In reality a little part of her had always wanted to be the princess, whisked away by a handsome prince to live happily ever after and whilst Hawk wasn't exactly a prince, she felt a thief would do just as fine a job.

Sometimes she wondered how she had convinced herself that as queen she didn't have time for men or a relationship. Those past seven years, she had thought it was what she wanted, but now, she wondered if that Lise had been truly alive. Yes, Hawk was a distraction, but he was the exact distraction she needed. Even with their responsibilities, she knew they could make it work.

Alas, whilst her time with Hawk was beautiful it had to remain brief. They'd both decided fairly quickly, what with the tension between Hawk and Angela already that it might be best if the group heard about this after the mission was done. The Nightblade still remained unaware of the night Duran had kissed her in Palo. It had been a mistake, she knew that now. She'd felt betrayed and vulnerable and Duran had been there at the time. It hadn't felt wrong exactly, but when she had kissed Hawk, she knew for certain it hadn't felt right either. She'd get to the hurdle sooner or later, but right now, she didn't want to deal with unexpected consequences.

But keeping things hidden was the least of Lise's problems. The attack on the Angela had proven that thoroughly. Lise could feel the mission itself going pear shaped. They had had too many near misses, too many lucky escapes. It felt as if they were living on borrowed time.

Whatever they were fighting had proven cunning enough that they'd managed to slip ninjas into the city without any of Hawk's contacts getting wind of it. What was more disturbing was how the person behind this had managed to have his agents worm their way into the highest echelons of every kingdom. Not only that, but those agents had then gained the intimate trust of the mana warriors. Knowing what Samantha had been and what she had shared with the woman, secrets she had trusted her with. It made her feel sick to her stomach, and was made that much worse by the revelation that the traitor had managed to stick Eliza in the darkest of Rolante's dungeons days before Lise herself had arrived there.

It made her wonder about Navarre. Hawk must have been worried out of his mind. Not only for the wellbeing of his people but also because someone he knew had turned. Of course, getting the thief to admit that much was more difficult; ever since they'd known each other Hawk had instinctively kept his true feelings hidden, building up the charming roguish exterior until it was second nature to him. Even now, after seven years, several near death experiences and the man admitting he loved her, Lise still suspected she knew very little about how the Nightblade truly worked.

But even if she didn't and even if somehow he was perfectly calm, she still scared for him. Their plan for the attack on Navarre made it even worse. Hawk was adamant that a frontal assault wouldn't work. It seemed illogical to Lise, given that the two of them had taken down the entirety of Navarre fortress seven years ago, but Hawk claimed that the entire fortress had been redesigned since, making it near impregnable.

She wouldn't have been so upset if that had been the only problem, but if a frontal assault wasn't an option that left stealth. Unfortunately, trying to be stealthy in a fortress filled with ninjas so good that they could hide in plain sight was next to impossible. Or at least impossible for her, Hawk on the other hand, might be able to pull it off, which meant that he had to go in alone and Lise did not like it a single bit. Of course Hawk was capable and of course the reasoning was logical and she knew that it was the best plan that they had, but it still didn't stop worry from eating her up inside.

However, that wasn't her only concern, just her most personal. Unfortunately another man had her scared for entirely different reasons. She'd noticed Duran becoming more brazen as their adventure had continued, everyone had. But she'd thought nothing of it. After all, they were all under tremendous pressure and there were times, like when she'd speared that bitch Samantha through her black heart, that she'd taken some pleasure in seeing an enemy go down. But this was different. The Duran beating down that ninja wasn't the Duran she knew, for a moment when she'd stopped him and he'd stared at her, she had thought he was going to do the same thing to her. Duran could be described as a lot of things, stubborn maybe, bull-headed, but bloodthirsty was not a word she would ever have associated with the paladin.

The change couldn't have been natural. A younger more impulsive Duran had been nothing like this and the man was a King now. He knew that keeping his temper was important, he'd become well known for his levelheadedness. But what had elicited the change? And even if she could figure that out, how exactly were they meant to reverse the change itself? As seemed to be the constant theme of this adventure, the farther they progressed, the more questions that piled up with no answers. It was immensely frustrating.

And then there had been the attack on Angela itself. The Queen of Reason was recovering in her room at the moment, but the attack itself. That had taken, well, balls to pull off. Managing to separate off one of the mana warriors while the others were sitting not more than a floor away, almost killing her! Lise never let fear rule her, but watching the gruesome sight that had been Angela. It was enough to make the Amazon feel sick. And again, she'd been forced to watch on completely helpless as her friend had lay there dying.

If she was scared for Hawk now she had been terrified for Angela, her own weakness, inability to do anything had amplified that. And now she had to try to sleep in the knowledge that at any point a pair of ninjas might sneak into her room and attack her. Surely those two had to be some of Navarre's best, probably the best they could afford to lose. And yet, that thought didn't comfort her for a second.

Lise liked to think of herself as a strong person, but adding all of these worries to desert heat frying her hair and making her sweat like a pig, the fact that sand managed to get damn near everywhere and it made for a week that made Lise wonder how long it would be before she went grey. On the bright side, things could be worse, she could still be fretting about Rolante as well.

Trying to relax again, Lise was startled out of her bed when she heard a knock at her window. She was on the first floor, how was that even possible? Lise responded quickly, diving off her bed, grabbing the spear hidden beneath the mattress and the frame. Yes, she couldn't sleep with a knife under her pillow like a certain Navarrian did, but that didn't mean she slept unprepared. Cautiously she edged to the window. The frame itself was small, a man could just about squeeze through, but it was designed with the intent of allowing minimal heat in during the day and minimal heat out during the night. Anyone who tried to burst through the window and attack her would have no room to dodge when she threw her spear directly at them.

"Lise it's me!" The Amazon dropped the spear and ran to the window, "hurry up, my arms are killing me!" Opening the window out Lise laughed softly, partly out of relief and partly out of amusement as Hawk, clad in dark black, swung through the opening and rolled into her room. He had only a moment to look in slight surprise as she cuffed him round the head.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said in mock fury, "You scared the living hell out of me! I thought you were a damn ninja come to take me away!"

"Well," the thief replied, rubbing his head slightly, she hadn't meant to connect fully with that. "Well, I am a ninja," in a blink he was next to her, arms around her, looking down at her with his smouldering brown eyes, "And I have come to take you," he leaned in for a kiss which she all too happily reciprocated.

"On the second count," she said between kisses, "I am an Amazon, nobody 'takes' me."

"I damn sure intend to try," Hawk said, smiling as he crushed her to a wall.

Lise pulled away from Hawk's mouth and grinned, "And on the first count, you are not a Ninja, you are a Nightblade. I recall that when you were a ninja it was a disaster."

Hawk rolled his eyes in mock protest, "I was an exemplary ninja!"

Lise laughed, she couldn't help herself, "Do you remember the time at the Moonreading Tower, when we fought Lugar?"

"Oh lord here we go," Hawk had probably heard the story a million times now. She was fairly certain everyone in Navarre had heard it at least once. Not that she had had a hand in spreading it. Well apart from to Jessica when she'd visited Hawk in Navarre the first time and the barman in the fortress after she'd had a little to drink and Hawk's friend Kairen. Okay, perhaps she had been spreading it.

"Hawk, a newly raised ninja, wet behind the ears, sees Lugar, General of the Beast King's armies and reputedly the most powerful Beastman alive apart from the King himself."

"Please, don't go on," Lise wasn't sure if Hawk ever blushed, but this came goddamn close.

"Oh no, this is payback for all the times you complimented my backside in public," she wasn't sure if she was grinning harder.

"It is a fine bottom, I must say," Hawk said as a hand went there.

"Hawk, newly raised ninja," she continued, ignoring his attempt at distraction, "concludes that he can take Lugar out in a single hit from the bushes. Of course, ignoring the protests of the other five members of his party who all know the man is going to get his head kicked off." Hawk sighed, "He carefully, ever so carefully makes his way through the forest, darting from shadow to shadow as skilled as he can be, until he's within a metre of the general himself." Lise desperately tried to prevent herself from laughing, "Finally ready, he leaps at the general, gets his foot caught in a branch and falls directly onto the general's awaiting fist. Do you remember any of the rest Hawk?"

Hawk was staring at the floor, if he hadn't been blushing before, he was now. "Now Hawk don't be shy, this is me you're talking to," she teased.

"I spent the entire fight unconscious," he replied through gritted teeth.

Lise collapsed onto her boyfriend in a fit of unrestrained laughter. "You spent the entire fight asleep," she was in hysterics now, trying to speak; hell trying to breathe was difficult, "While Lugar was trying to kill us. You should have seen the look on your face. As you were falling, of course, not after Lugar punched you out."

Finally regaining a bit of her composure, she leaned back and looked into her beautiful thief's eyes, "No Hawk, I don't think you'll ever be a ninja."

In spite of it all, Hawk smiled back, amused, "Well tonight we finally have a room in a decent inn and I am going to make you pay for every single minute of that."

"Oh really?" Lise replied, sceptical. "You are aware we can't do, anything too," Lise hesitated, she loved the man and Goddess she wanted to have him, unrestrained; blasted Amazon vows.

Yet Hawk seemed unruffled, "Oh Lise," he chuckled forebodingly, "I don't need to break any oaths to have my revenge."

And that was when all Lise's clothing fell straight off her body in tatters, leaving her standing in her undergarments. Looking down, Lise felt her face heat. How did he do that?

* * *

Angela awoke to find Duran still asleep in her room. She smiled, looking at the Paladin with his head slumped to his chest. The oaf had probably stayed in the room watching her all night.

Rubbing her eyes, she tried to remember what had happened, but unfortunately was drawing a blank. She could remember her desperate flight from the ninjas fairly clearly. But things got hazy after she'd been hit by what she could only assume was a jutsu of some sort. In fact, from that point on she couldn't remember anything until she woke up here.

Orange light was streaming into her room. Logically that meant that it was probably dawn. She'd been asleep for close to eight hours then. Angela considered things for a moment. If that was the case and most of her exhaustion had been from the healing then she'd been hurt very, very badly.

Angela shivered, how many times would they luck out? They couldn't rely on their enemies being unlucky forever. Every time they seemed to get a little closer to the edge, it was only a matter of time before someone fell. Angela would never have admitted it to anyone, but for the first time since she'd gazed upon the Dragon Emperor she was scared.

Of course all fear was kicked out of her with the swift realisation that she was naked underneath her covers. Fear was replaced by fury, how dare Duran undress her without her permission! No matter how familiar they were with each other, him taking a peak while she was unconscious?

Angela furiously searched for her garments and then realised that they weren't there.

They'd been burnt to a crisp.

The fear was back in her, freezing her to her core. Angela could feel herself sink back into her covers. Of course, she'd been shaken back in Altena when what had appeared to be her mother had almost killed her. She could still feel the boot lancing into her in her nightmares. But it hadn't scared her. She'd been prepared for it. She'd known from the moment she'd planned their raid on Altena that she might die there.

Being attacked in an inn, where she was meant to be safe; that was different. The thought that she could go to sleep and be attacked by ninjas made her head ache. In retrospect they should have expected it. Their resistance to their aggressor's attacks had been pitiful. Every time their enemies edged a little closer to killing them and became a little more confident. She should have expected ninjas to attack the inn; it was something directly out of Navarre's playbook. Hawk probably hadn't thought of it because he'd been in power so long. His Navarre was a peaceful one, even if they did train as ninjas. An attack in the style of the old Navarre, the one headed by Bigieu, that was something that only she, having studied the last mana war extensively, could have predicted.

It was a mark of how tired she was that she hadn't. In fact, it was a mark of how strenuous their trip had been. Even with all the time on ships and to themselves, the entire mission had them so wound up that they never discussed it before an attack, simply because their objectives had had a logical pattern. They didn't need to think about the mission after defeating Dorothy and the apparition of her mother because it was logical to go to the Moonlight Forest next. They didn't need to think about where to go after beating Jorin, because Rolante was the next logical target. The problem was, they still had no clues. After Navarre what were they meant to do?

Angela pondered. This was her area of expertise. Yes Duran, Lise and Kevin knew battle tactics, Hawk knew a con. But she was the political one; she was the one who needed to figure out the puzzle. Somebody wanted something so badly that they'd destabilise the entire world to do it, but they still didn't know what.

Angela sat up in her bed, taking care not to make too much noise and wake Duran. She started with the obvious. The mastermind behind this chaos had pulled them away from their respective Kingdoms, apart from Forcena. The clue was in why Forcena had been left out. Koren had told them that Forcena had been bait to lure them away from their Kingdoms but couldn't they have just delayed them on Mirage just as well? So that meant Forcena was different for some reason.

Tactically, Forcena was landlocked and now with the bridge in the cleft out, it had no way of mobilising its forces anywhere but the Molebear Highlands. Apparently Duran had set workers on repairing it, but that would still take another month or so. That meant that whatever armies Forcena could bring to bear were isolated. If Forcena was used as the exception because their military might was purposeless, then it made sense that the chaos in the other countries was caused to cripple the militaries. Altena, she knew, could bring a small force to bear, but her mother's reappearance meant that Angela could only rely on her Royal Guard. The Beast Kingdom had nothing because of the fighting between those loyal to Jorin and those loyal to Kevin but Rolante had survived comparatively well. That said, Angela hadn't talked to Lise about her military forces, it could well be that Samantha had managed to coerce officers into dismissing units. In fact, that was fairly likely. They still didn't know the status of Navarre, but she could only assume it was the same.

So if their mastermind had disabled their military presence, then clearly he feared it almost as much as he did the Mana Warriors. That meant, most likely that, the intent was to field an army at some point. Military force wouldn't mean much otherwise. Anyone who had ever tried to catch rats knew that the size of the hammer didn't matter, if the plot just entailed a small group of people attempting to gain control of a mana stone, or some other magical object then an army wasn't really going to impede them any much more than a band of adventurers such as themselves.

If what she had assumed was true then, it meant that whoever was trying to kill them had the means to raise an army very quickly, or the means to hide one. Both were possibilities. There were plenty of places in the world that never saw a human eye for centuries. She'd been certain that was true of the Glass Desert. But there were plenty of ways to summon an army extremely quickly, gateways to the underworld, animating corpses; if something existed it could be animated and made into a weapon.

That line of thought died there. She knew what they planned to do at least, but why and how was still a mystery. But there had been other clues along the way. Duran was one of them. Only she and Hawk were privy to the information that Duran was giving away their position. It was his new power source. Angela had long ago concluded that it wasn't a new form of mana, no, when the old Goddess had died she'd been very clear that mana was going to die with her and Angela found it strange that the new Goddess would only grant power to Duran when the rest of her chosen ones were in such dire need.

But she knew her enemies had already derived a way to track Duran. On top of that they could cast magic as if nothing had ever happened. Angela didn't want to carry on, knowing what her deduction would mean. If she was right then as she had suspected when she'd informed Hawk about the problem, the power came from their enemies.

Yet, that again led to the same questions, how and why? With Duran, the why might be easier. He'd been more aggressive recently, perhaps they were trying to put him off-balance for when the inevitable direct conflict with the mana warriors happened. Angela frowned, that didn't make sense. There had been times where Duran had saved the mana warrior's lives by using his power. Why bother when the only purpose was to see them all die? There had to be some deeper reason, worth more than the life of any single mana warrior.

That left her with the how. There had to be an example somewhere of someone using magic without mana. Ninjitsu seemed the obvious answer, but that was different, they couldn't replicate a holy light. She herself had been unable to cast spells until the elemental spirits had granted her the ability, but she still relied on mana. And then it struck her. Koren; Koren had never been able to use magic, but he'd given up part of his soul to use it. Perhaps there was a link there. She had been certain Koren still required mana to cast, but that still didn't answer all her questions. Koren had allegedly given his soul to the Dragon Emperor. But how had the Dragon Emperor used it to allow him to cast magic. She knew that certain, darker magics required a human sacrifice, but she knew nothing of it.

There was something in this though. Pleased with her breakthrough, Angela challenged herself with another piece of the puzzle. Where were they meant to go next? The mysterious person behind this all had sent them to Mirage, then to Forcena, to keep them off balance and allow his forces to form a grip on their homelands. Yet he hadn't been too concerned about defending them. But that was because the objective wasn't control but chaos so he could raise his own army. She'd already established that. So where would the army strike? If they couldn't stop him raising it, they could be there for the first strike.

But with all the major kingdoms out of action, no target seemed better than any other. No target could offer any viable opposition. If the man behind it all was as wise as he seemed; he would go for the most dangerous target in the world. Angela grimaced, Rolante still had its amazons, but they were matched by the pure ferocity of the few Beastmen that remained. Altena probably wasn't viable and Forcena would be ignored due to its weak geographical location. But that didn't make them high priority targets. Angela knew she was close to the answer, knew she could do it.

And then the door slammed open, waking up Duran, almost causing him to fall out of his chair in shock. Lise stormed in, wearing breeches and a shirt that had been donned hastily, "Hawk's gone."

Angela cursed.

Response to reviewers

HawkofNavarre: Jesus this response has been a long time coming. I'm glad you liked Angela and the ninjas. I did my best to contrast the scene of complete peace in the inn with Angela's utter terror outside. I'm also rather pleased my punctuation is improving (Although after this break it may be back to its old awful state)

Shaneypooh: Hopefully your internet will be up for when this chapter went up. Regardless I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to catch up.

Dxkid: I certainly hope it did! No point in a cliffhanger otherwise.

Mad Lullabud: The chocolate is invisible! I don't know where it is, you just have to find it.

Enter-Metallica: Me not updating for over a year will be discussed slightly below. It feels good to be writing again though. I loved chapter 21, now looking back and when I was writing it. I don't focus on Kevin a lot, but at heart this story is about him and whenever I do write a Kevin chapter it comes together really easily for me.

Actual Rant

So you're all probably wondering what happened to me for the past year or so. The answer is fairly simple, university happened to me and I got lazy. Getting lazy involved me not writing during the holidays and university term is too frantic for me to be writing. The upside is that I'm now doing a Master's degree in Economics and go to university much closer to home now. Means I get a bit more time to myself and thus my writing. By the time Christmas came around I felt I had no real excuse any more.

There have been a number of occasions where I actually got work on this chapter started and then had it come crashing to a halt. I lost about 2000 words or so when my previous computer threw a hissy fit on me and died.

Looking back, my initial approach on the chapter was wrong. I had originally intended for this to be the chapter where everyone returned to Navarre. But I still had to deal with the aftermath of the Angela situation as well. It seems my lack of enthusiasm probably came from the fact that I don't think I can do justice to the Navarre chapter without an ENTIRE chapter purely dedicated to it. I also have clearer plans with what I want to do during the next chapter and it's looking like it will be my most challenging chapter yet.

Regardless, if you're reading this and somehow stuck with me through all of this, I'm amazingly grateful. I promised I would finish this and I damn sure meant that.

With all of that said. If you're a new or old reader, please review what I've done. I always find comments amazingly helpful regardless of whether they're good or bad and often they're what kick me back on track with the writing.

Thanks, free invisible helicopters located at the peak of Everest for any who review.


	26. Homecoming

Homecoming

Hawk had set a furious pace through the desert. He didn't grow tired, he barely acknowledged the terrain. Navarre was his home, the desert his garden. He knew this place like a mother knew her child. The desert at this time would have frozen anyone, not Hawk, his movement kept him warm as he raced along the dunes, feet not in a single place long enough for the sand to give way beneath him. Anyone watching would have seen nothing, Hawk's speed and his black garb made him look more like a shadow cast by the moon than a person. His hood and mask collapsing any distinctive features into formless blobs.

His singular focus was the fortress, rising ominously in the distance. It was ironic that the very fortress he had cared for, the fortress whose defences he had perfected were now going to be turned against the very man that had created them. Hawk knew they would succeed. He had come here to die.

Thoughts rushed through the Nightblade's head, summoned by the sight of his home. Thoughts focused on how it had come to this. How he had ended up, about to attack the single place in the world he could call his home.

In truth, it had started with Bigieu. That day, seven years ago was eerily similar to now. He'd been forced to strike down friends, forced to fight the best friend he'd ever had and ever would have. He'd been forced to see that friend burn before him, forced to see his home burn. Bigieu had taken control of everyone in the fortress, everyone but him. Why had he been the exception? Had Bigieu wanted him to kill his friends? Taken sick pleasure in knowing what he was going through? He asked these questions to this day. Why was he allowed to live when Eagle had died? Why him instead of Bill and Ben?

But those questions weren't important. The only question that had mattered was; how had Bigieu managed to control so many at once? Hawk knew the answer now, Angela had said that such power wasn't possible, not even by the ArchDemon himself. Not without constant concentration. So Hawk had searched for an answer, but deep in his heart, he had already known. It was ninjutsu. Hawk had never questioned why ninjutsu didn't require mana. It was the way of the world; it was how the Goddess had intended it. And then he saw Duran. Duran's power came from elsewhere, somewhere dark, that had become clear now. The ninja, they followed a dark path. Hawk himself trod on the precipice. He knew now that their arts came from darkness itself. Every time he used a jutsu he was calling something not of this world. And he knew now that that was Navarre's weakness.

Every ninja he'd ever trained shared this weakness. Every man and woman unfortunate enough to use a jutsu could be affected. And that meant that every soldier, every civilian in Navarre was a slave to their new masters, be it through mental or physical duress.

And that left Hawk with a single thought. Why not him?

He was their leader, the person that had to protect them. He was the most powerful practitioner of these arts on the planet. He was a man that had truly given himself to ninjutsu as an art. So why could he still think? He was one of the few people who knew the Goddess, who believed in her with all his heart. Perhaps her predecessor had protected him those years before, knowing what he would become. Perhaps she protected him now, knowing what he had to do. Perhaps it was a sick joke, so he would be forced to watch his friends die in his arms again. Die by his hand, literally or through his inaction, his inability to do anything else.

There were some who said that Nightblades didn't feel emotion. They killed without remorse. Hawk himself had once believed that. He had chosen to become one, chosen it so he wouldn't have to remember, feel his friends slip away. He knew now that was wrong. Nightblades felt every death. They used the pain, the sadness, used it to keep them from slipping into the darkness and becoming the truly soulless killers that he'd once met in the Dark Castle.

But even killing his friends didn't truly matter. Not to a man that would be dead before the next sunset. Hawk's plan was lacklustre by his standards, by anyone's standards. The South gate, facing the Valley of Flames had the smallest guard. That still meant he'd have to eliminate at least four people, two of which were stationed on the walls themselves, without the alarm being raised. From there, he had to get to the dungeons and pray someone had avoided the mind control so he could get a better grip of the situation and perhaps so they could lead a resistance.

From there he had to kill the leader. That might free some of his people; Nikita had been freed when Bigieu had been weakened. But he doubted his opponents were so sloppy as to have the fortress controlled by a single person. If the person in charge were half has strong as Samantha or Jorin then the alarm raised from their fight would mean that Hawk would be crawling in ninjas within about a minute.

Simply, there was no way he could get in, fulfil his objective and get to safety. He just had to hope that the chaos caused by his attack meant that his friends, when they inevitably followed him, would be able to sweep the place clean.

Hawk came to a stop, taking cover behind some rocks. The South gate lay ahead of him, looking out onto the valleys that wound down until they reached the valley of flames. Hawk studied the movement patterns of the guards ahead of him, their silhouettes against the moon giving away the position of those on the walls.

His friends likely didn't know about his plans yet. Angela would figure them out fast enough when they realised he was missing. He tried to convince himself that he hadn't told them because of security reasons. Duran was being tracked, he knew that now. He couldn't allow anything to give his attack away and right now the paladin was just a liability that he didn't want to deal with. But deep down he knew why he hadn't told them. He knew he wasn't coming back from this and he didn't want to have to deal with the protests, the anger.

But most importantly he didn't want to have to deal with Lise. Earlier that night, that last precious evening, had made him want to stay. It had made him want to run away, just to be with her. It wasn't just the physical parts. He could have had the same with Angela. No, it was the fact that she trusted him, despite all the lies, despite the facade he hid behind, she still trusted him.

If it had been that evening with her that had made him want to stay, it had been lying in bed with her that night that had made him want to leave; he knew that the world had to be safe for her and that he was willing to make any sacrifice to do it.

He loved her. And yet, he hadn't been able to say that to her. He'd never told her the truth, not because he was scared to, but because there was one lose string left. One woman he needed to see first. She lay somewhere in that fortress, probably working to see his demise, her mind not her own. But he knew, no matter what her state, he had to see her.

Kairen; she had been the other woman who had trusted him. And once again, he'd let a person he cared about down. When he had left her in Navarre, what seemed a lifetime ago he hadn't known what would happen, he hadn't expected anything serious. Hell, what he had been through was life changing. He knew now that ending up in bed with her the night before he left hadn't just been a drunken fling. It was something that had been on the boil for a long time and dismissing it as such wasn't fair to her, nor was it fair to Lise. Hawk wondered at how he'd managed to do exactly that for so long. He grimaced slightly. He'd been unfair to a lot of girls recently. What he'd had with Angela was meant to be casual, but he was pretty sure there were feelings there as well. Much as he enjoyed flirting, hell, much as he enjoyed kissing pretty girls, he'd done a lot of things he wasn't proud of on this trip. He hoped Angela at least would be able to forgive him. As for Kairen, he would clear things with her if he died trying. So whilst going to Navarre alone needed to be done, he had his own personal reason that made this last night alive dear to him.

The guard pattern Hawk had been observing was simple but effective. Two guards manned the front of the gate and stayed in position at all times. They were accompanied by the two guards on the walls. Hawk followed the East wing guard as he patrolled to down the wall to the Southeast corner, leaving three guards stationed at the gate. Upon his return, the West wing guard would do the same, stopping when he met the guard from the Southwest corner. In fact, the pattern was exactly as Hawk had taught them. Some would have called it sloppy, to not change tactics after ousting the fortress' leader, but Hawk knew no better way of keeping himself out of a building than this.

Well, it wasn't going to keep him out, but it was only a matter of time before someone realised that the guards were missing. Usually, this tactic would leave only five minutes for a would-be intruder before a guard realised something was wrong.

That was unless he killed the guard on wall patrol on his way back, then proceeded to kill the rest of the guards on the gate. That way he'd give himself at least seven minutes before the corner guards realised something was up and another, two or three minutes while they waited to see if it was just a minor delay and another two or three minutes for them to run back along the wall and find their comrades out of action. Opting to be pessimistic Hawk estimated that he'd have ten minutes if his plan went flawlessly.

Better odds than expected then.

Approaching the wall without being detected was a fairly simple task for him. He approached quickly, but not so quick that he'd kick up dust. His dark clothing lent itself to the night; but the full moon threatened to give him away if he wasn't careful.

Hawk followed the West guard as he walked along the wall, his position given away by the torch he carried. The Nightblade approached the wall, until he was leaning flat against it, approximately halfway between the corner and the gate. That would buy him the most time possible. Soon enough, the he heard the guard's footsteps along the wall. No doubt this man had training as a ninja, but he wasn't concerned with keeping quiet on guard duty for a fortress that nobody was ever stupid enough to attack. Hawk should have been annoyed really; whilst the attitude was expected, it shouldn't have been tolerated and reflected badly on his own leadership. But right now, the guard's lax attitude was another thing helping the Nightblade on his way to the dungeons.

Biding his time until he felt the guard come as close to him as possible, Hawk spun out from the wall. The guard failed to catch the flicker of movement and a second later Hawk's shuriken caught him in the throat. Clutching his ruined oesophagus the guard fell to the ground with a gurgle, dropping his torch to the floor next to him.

Hawk muttered a curse, he hadn't accounted for the torch. If it caught on the guard's clothing then there'd be a giant signal fire telling people 'Hawk was here.' A solution came quickly. Hawk looked at the wall above him, seeing the smoke from the flames rise up to the sky. Relaxing himself, he opened up to the elements around him the way Undine had taught him. For some reason Hawk couldn't fathom he'd always had an affinity for water. The elemental had taken a liking to him immediately when they first met. Perhaps it was because she was the first elemental to teach him.

Jutsus weren't things of mana she had once said but they still used the power of the elements. The power came to him quickly, the water jutsu had been the first he'd learnt, a soft current, calming and soothing him. It was docile element that when pushed too far, confined too much became a terrifying torrent of power. Hawk used that power and felt the flames be quenched as he released, admittedly a weak version of the jutsu on the fortress wall.

A crisis averted, Hawk darted down the wall, again careful not to kick up any dust to announce his presence. It wasn't long before the first of the three remaining gate guards came into view. This one at least was more alert. Sometimes the guild did get travellers, usually merchants, coming in late at night, even from the South gate. Merchants did often have strange customs and some might have preferred fewer intimidating ninjas as they tried to get into the fortress. Whilst Navarre was a thieves' guild, they weren't as stupid as to send traders on their way, merchants knew they had safe passage here. There wasn't much point in thievery if you never spent your wealth on anything after all. On second thought, the guard might simply be alert because the powers that be knew that the mana warriors were in the area.

Still, the guard was expecting a merchant, or perhaps all five of the mana warriors, not an angry Nightblade who'd already killed one of his comrades today.

Hawk silently prepared, lining his mouth carefully with needles. Immediately upon completion of his work Hawk dashed in, grabbing the man's torch arm. The ninja had his long knife out in a flash and in another time, another place, Hawk would have been proud. Unfortunately for the ninja, Hawk's right hand, bearing his trusty Deathstroke, already had the kodachi to the man's throat. With a flick of the wrist, the throat was cut open and Hawk held his dagger bearing hand over the man's mouth as the unfortunate guard choked on his own blood.

Turning his attention to the guard's comrade in arms across the gate, Hawk held himself perfectly still, not allowing the corpse he was holding to move an inch. To the man waiting on the other side of the path, in this darkness, it would look like nothing had changed.

Both his hands, occupied, Hawk instead turned his head. As the guard glanced at him and with the precision of a man far too used to spitting needles from his mouth, Hawk nailed the hapless guard in the throat, as well as sending a few stray needles into the ninja's face. The man tried to scream in terror and was surprised when nothing came out.

Goddamnit, but did Hawk love Blow Needles. Letting go of his cadaverous charge, he summoned the shadows themselves, one moment being ten foot away, the next directly in the stunned guard's face, delivering a silhouette slice that would have made any Nightblade proud. The man fell to floor dead instantly.

Hawk glanced upwards and only just brought his daggers to bear in the nick of time. A veritable swarm of shurikens flew at him. He used every ounce of skill he had, every fibre of concentration, deflecting them away with his daggers. He could only afford to protect his vitals and by the end of the onslaught he was covered in a bevy of tiny cuts. Realising there was no time before the guard raised the alarm, Hawk used the weapons he had at hand, throwing one of his daggers and watching it nail the guard in the heart, cutting through what little armour the man had. The man was dead before he could land, his body hitting the floor with a sickening thud.

Hawk looked upward, well now he had created a problem for himself. His dagger was stuck on top of the wall and unfortunately the Deathstroke daggers were two of a kind.

The completely smooth face of the wall stood in the way of that however, but Hawk had just the trick up his sleeve. Again, calling upon the elements, taking himself to a calm state of mind, Hawk embraced the power of the earth. Its stability, its strength and turned that very strength on the wall in front of him. It wasn't much, but here and there, grooves crumbled into the wall. It wasn't much, but it was all he needed. Hawk scrambled up the wall in what could only have been a few seconds, rolling over the crest to avoid skylining himself too badly.

Retrieving his dagger from the guard's chest cavity, Hawk stamped out the guard's torch whilst looking over the wall, eyes scanning for any guards. To his relief none had been positioned nearby. The Nightblade more than suspected that other, less well guarded parts of the wall would have guards hidden in the shadows near them, to ambush anyone who used his little trick to climb over. The gate, well, nobody thought anyone would have the audacity to sneak in through the front door.

Now, all he had to do was make it to the dungeon inside ten minutes and then evade capture long enough to get to the throne room. Spying the entrance to the underground levels, Hawk rolled over the other side of the wall, landing softly on the sand covered stone below.

Instead, however of sneaking his way to the entrance, Hawk simply strolled over to it. There wouldn't be as many, if any guards stationed on the inside of the fortress and it was dark enough that nobody would be able to recognise him. A man strolling to a door clearly had a right to be there, a man sneaking; well he had something to hide.

Of course the moment that Hawk found himself indoors things became a different story. The rooms were well lit and he was under no illusions that despite his mask Navarrians might well recognise the most famous man to ever come from their guild. Sometimes Hawk hated being famous, it almost made him wish he hadn't saved the world.

In well lit rooms such as these, Hawk couldn't rely on stealth. Instead, speed was his best recourse. The moment Hawk entered one room he made a mad dash across to the next exit, stopping at the door. He'd wait a few moments, being careful to listen for footsteps, before peering into the room beyond and checking it for inhabitants.

Blessedly most of the rooms had been left empty; they were for training anyway and at this time even ninja were sleeping. But as Hawk descended deeper into the fortress, his luck ran out. The room beyond led to the prison, designed as an armoury for guards assigned deeper in. Fortunately there was only one person there, examining the weapon racks for what Hawk could only assume was a new dagger.

This would be an easy kill. Wanting to conserve his shurikens, Hawk opted to dart into the room. The man was quick, noticing the Nightblade within a second, drawing a weapon off the rack and swinging. But it was wild. Hawk dodged in with ease, one dagger hamstringing the ninja, the next stabbing into his throat as he fell.

Knowing that a corpse would be discovered quickly left lying there. Hawk was forced, to his chagrin to drag the body and conceal it behind the weapon racks. He had never been blessed with amazing strength and the process itself took a valuable minute away from his time remaining. It wouldn't take long for people to discover what had happened, a little blood stained the floor after all. But Hawk didn't have much time before he was discovered anyway.

Returning to his routine, Hawk finally came to the guard post, peering in only to find it empty. The prison was in the next block along, the post being unguarded either meant that there was nobody of import there, or that this was a trap. Regardless, Hawk knew he had to risk it. Any allies within Navarre would be invaluable in cleaning up the mess he left.

Knowing that either way, stealth was now truly pointless, Hawk adopted a relaxed stance before taking a step into the room. But before his foot even touched the floor he was forced into a roll. A shuriken flew past him, in the air where a second before his neck had been.

The room was well lit, but the light hadn't extended all the way to the corners. Out of one of those corners strode a figure garbed in black similar to Hawk's own. They made no attempt to hide themselves, now that their attempt at a surprise attack had failed. He was shorter than Hawk and upon further inspection Hawk concluded that the 'he' was a in fact a 'she.' But Hawk wasn't concerned about gender; he was more concerned about how she had managed to conceal herself when he'd first scanned the room.

There was a trick Hawk himself had never mastered. Years ago, when he'd assaulted the Dark Castle he'd met Nightblades that had been able to actually meld with the shadows, leaping out of them for surprise attacks. Hawk didn't understand how it was done and had run into walls more times than he cared to admit trying to master the technique. His conclusion; this person was under the influence of very powerful magic.

The ninja approached him silently, but casually; adopting the same relaxed stance that Hawk had instinctively fallen into, daggers at their sides, waiting for their opponent to make the first move. Unfortunately for Hawk his opponent was under no time constraint whereas he had to end this quickly if he was to succeed.

Wishing to waste no more time, Hawk feigned a step to the left, before pivoting and sprinting to the right. His opponent wasn't fooled and despite his own lightning speed she easily fell into a position that covered her left flank. Hawk swept down with his right hand, aiming to cut across her arm. Neither of them would have any real protection in the form of armour from each other's attacks, Hawk having had to discard his own magical garments in favour of the black clothing he was wearing now and his Deathstroke daggers being enchanted well enough that not even well crafted ninja garb would prevent them from cutting through.

His opponent nonchalantly parried Hawk's own dagger with her left hand, deflecting his blow just enough that it sailed inches past her. Seemingly unperturbed by what Hawk would have called a close call, the girl launched into an attack of her own, stabbing for Hawk's stomach with her own right hand.

Hawk contorted his body, turning sideways and allowing the flat of the dagger to caress his stomach. Annoyingly this move set him slightly off balance and his opponent knew it. She swung her other dagger, aiming to sever his head. Instead of trying to parry in such a compromising position, Hawk let himself fall to the floor and watched as her dagger sailed inches above his face. Landing on his back, Hawk slashed a dagger at the girl's knees and watched as she backflipped away from him.

Swinging his legs for momentum, Hawk leapt back up to his feet, staring at the unscathed ninja before him.

She was good, very good, as fast, if not faster than him. He had her on raw power it seemed, explaining why she'd chosen to deflect his attacks instead of go for a full parry. But the bizarre part was that Hawk didn't know of any women, in fact anyone in the guild who was this close to him in power. Kairen had been about as good at tossing daggers, perhaps better with darts and traps, but not since Bill and Ben had Hawk ever known anyone to be his equal in a knife fight.

The reprieve lasted a second; his opponent leapt backwards, attempting to create distance between the two of them. Hawk had no idea what was coming next, he was at a considerable disadvantage here, his opponent probably knew every last one of his moves and yet he had no idea who was under that hood and mask. Knowing however, that if she wanted distance, then he wasn't going to hand it to her, Hawk threw himself across the room and was greeted by a wave of fire approaching him. He leapt to the side, feeling the flames lick him, throwing himself into a roll that quickly extinguished any parts that may have been set alight, coming up to his knees and staring at his foe.

That had been a Flame Breath. She couldn't be.

And then it started to rain. Hawk knew he couldn't dodge rain drops and to his horror watched as it began to burn through his clothing. A stray drop caught him on the forehead. He hissed in pain, feeling his very skin be corrupted by the drop, knowing that he had seconds before one scored in his eye.

Hawk threw himself at her, she wouldn't be able to use the fire breath trick again; and was greeted by another hail of shurikens. This time however, Hawk used the now rain slick floor to his advantage. Diving to the ground, he slid across to her, praying that his clothing wouldn't give way to the enchanted droplets. Rolling out of the slide he came to a halt on his knees, looking up at her. He saw her eyes widen in shock as he stabbed forward with his dagger.

Yet he still didn't connect. She'd dodged almost instinctively, mirroring the same motion he'd used moments ago to dodge her own thrust. It was Hawk's turn to be shocked as she brought her daggers to bear on him.

And there they fought; the black rain lancing down around them meaning that neither could give way. The only area of true safety was where they stood. The only sounds being the pitter patter of raindrops and the chink of blade on blade. Hawk tried to press his attack, knowing that he didn't have time for this. But it was all he could do to defend himself. The girl fought with a fury and with a passion that he could barely match. Blow after counterblow, strike after parry. The pair of Nightblade attacked each other with a single minded fury.

Hawk found himself on the defensive again, caught off balance by a clever feint for his ankle. The girl came in for a killing blow, her dagger coming down in a long arc from above. Reflexively Hawk stabbed forward with both his daggers, scoring in her stomach. But instead of a scream or a cry, Hawk found an expressionless face. Surprised, Hawk looked around, only to find another pair of expressionless faces staring at him. The images struck. Hawk threw away any notion of offense. Panicked, he ducked and dived as six sets of daggers bore down on him. Launching to parry only what he knew for certain would hit him. Which one was the real one truly didn't matter. In fact none of them were truly real, yet all of them could hurt. Hawk stifled a cry as one of them scored on his leg. Forcing away the pain of the many thin cuts he'd already attained. He had to just hold on.

To his relief the assault halted and then the ninja, no, the Nightblade was in front of him again, whole and proper. Grimacing, feeding on the pain he felt in his leg he fought on. He'd been lucky, there had been a delay before she attacked, perhaps because she wasn't used to fighting like that yet. But given her skill, Hawk wondered.

They continued their deadly dance, ducking and weaving, feet entwined in a tango of death. But Hawk knew, he'd eventually be slowed by the gash on his leg. She'd take advantage and it would be all over. Goddess she fought like a woman possessed. Every strike where he should have hit was countered by a miraculous dodge that Hawk himself simply couldn't have managed. At one point she dodged a simultaneous horizontal slash at her neck and waist by throwing herself into the air and literally diving between the blades.

Hawk tried to think, but he couldn't afford to lose concentration on the fight. Oh how his leg ached. That was it. Hawk purposely began to slow his attacks. Maintaining his defense but allowing his offense to become half hearted. His opponent took full advantage, in quick succession managing a strike on his arm and across his stomach.

Hawk continued the charade, silently wondering how long it would be before it was all he could do to simply maintain that. And then it happened. The girl swept in, trapping her own leg behind his, tripping him to the floor. He made no effort to balance himself, landing with a thud. The girl launched into her final attack, wasting no motion, stabbing downwards with both his daggers.

Hawk gave himself to the shadows, gave himself entirely to the darkness. Her blades passed through him, however, the blades of the two other Hawks that had appeared around her did not pass through her. Hawk stabbed her kidneys, another Hawk hamstrung her and the Hawk lying on the ground rolled, stabbing her in the chest.

There was no cry, no sound, just silence as the rain came to a stop and the girl died instantly.

Hawk turned to look at the Nightblade. Her eyes had already begun to glaze. His hands moved almost of their own accord. He had to know who she was, who this person who had pushed him to the limit was. Hawk removed the hood. The girl had blue hair. He felt sick, but his hands kept moving, pulling away her mask to reveal a face he knew, a face he had once loved.

Jessica lay in front of him, motionless. Hawk tried to move but felt his body turn to mush as he stared at the person in front of him. He'd done it again. Once again his quest, his search for glory had killed another one of his friends. Hawk felt himself begin to shudder. He saw Eagle, Bill and Ben. He saw him stab each and every one of them. He'd caused their deaths.

The fight made more sense now. No Nightblade of that skill should have been hesitated before a split image slice; she hadn't even called for help which would no doubt have ended it. Even with her mind under siege, she'd protected him, fought for him.

How had she become a Nightblade? And such a terrifyingly powerful one at that? Dark magic couldn't make a civilian equal a mana warrior; that was insanity.

Hawk tried to tear his focus away from her. Away from the friend that he'd killed, that he'd failed, the same way he'd failed to protect Navarre. There were still others; people who needed him. Jessica would never have wanted people to die because of her.

Struggling to his feet, the blood loss starting to get to him, Hawk stepped away from the body. He felt numb. He dragged himself to the dungeon entrance, taking the key off the guard room wall.

He opened the door to find the dungeon bereft of people, except for one solitary captive in a cell at the end. Inside stood another girl he had loved, the one he had come to se. Kairen looked vibrant as ever, turning to look at the person who'd interrupted her solitude.

"Hawk," relief filled her voice, "I knew you'd come," her clothes were grimy, her skirt torn, blouse marred by dirt. And yet, somehow she still looked radiant; her red mane lacking a hair out of place. And her eyes, those emerald eyes still sparkled.

Quickening his step, Hawk made his way to her cell, remembering the time he'd spent here himself, Jessica looking in at him, wondering if he'd killed her brother. "I'll have you out in a moment," he replied fiddling with the keys, his hands shaking for some reason.

Finally getting head and tail of the lock, Hawk stepped back and the door swung open. Immediately, he was placed on the defensive as Kairen threw herself into him, hugging him. "I knew you'd come Hawk, I knew you'd come." She kept saying it, like a chant, whispering it into his shoulder. Hawk, stroked her hair, saying nothing, just being strong for her.

She leaned back, finally getting a good look at him, the redness of tears that had been cried tainting those otherwise perfect gems. And then her expression changed, concern instead of relief, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, "Nothing Kairen, everything's fine."

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Don't lie to me."

"Nothing-"

"If you lie one more time I walk back into that cell and lock the door."

Hawk swallowed, "Your guard, she was Jessica," Hawk paused, struggling with the next words, "I killed her."

She hugged him again, "Oh, Hawk."

There was something about her voice, something consoling; the unfeigned concern.

He'd once thought he was going to marry Jessica; spent his evenings walking the desert with her, days swimming in the Deen oasis. He remembered the day he met her, introduced by his mother and Flamekhan. He'd thought her beautiful even back then. He remembered how she'd never lost faith in him, even after Bigieu came close to killing her. And ever afterwards, as they'd drifted apart there was something between them; the knowledge that Hawk would save the world for her.

Hawk found himself crying. He wept, unable to stop, crying into the shoulder of a woman who needed him to be strong. A woman he hadn't betrayed yet. He smelt her perfume. Jessica had always liked lotus scent. Hawk remembered how he'd stolen it for her on her birthday. Her glee when she saw the gift he'd brought her.

They'd kissed for the first time that night, sitting atop the fortress gate, staring at the moon. All the while wondering exactly what Eagle would do if he ever knew.

Hawk didn't know how long he cried. Kairen simply stood there, whispering words of comfort, never worrying about anything but him. But the dampness on Kairen's blouse indicated that he'd spent too long already. Lifting his head, attempting to dry his eyes, he turned to walk away, ashamed of himself, of his display.

"Kairen, the guards will realise what I've done soon. If I succeed a lot of ninjas will be freed from whoever is controlling them. Marshal them, clear any remnants out and keep any of the civilians safe." He didn't need to say all of that, Kairen was a Rogue, powerful in her own right, so without saying any more, he began to walk away.

"Hawk, wait," he felt himself be tugged back. Turning, he found himself kissing her. Found himself responding as all the feelings he had for the woman in front of him returned.

That was why he never felt her arm move, didn't realise until the dagger slid into his stomach.

He'd come here to die.

Writer's Rant

Response to reviewers:

One review this time. I can't say I'm exactly surprised given how long it usually takes me to update, this has to be a record for me, I'm sure.

HawkofNavarre: Apologies for the spelling, I haven't written in a while so it'll probably come back to me. Looking back at the Duran scene, I should have played more into the idea that he didn't really know what he was doing. Perhaps that would have worked slightly better. Hawk and Lise is something that I planned a long time ago and I'm still happy with it even though Angie/Hawk is probably easier for me to write. Speaking of our favourite Altenan, that part of the chapter just felt so right. It felt so Angela to be able to take that much damage and still keep focused on the mission.

Actual Rant

I've been planning this chapter for a long time. Pretty much the day I started writing this story I had the barebones script for what was going to happen here. I've looked forward to writing it for a long long time and I only hope I've managed to do my vision justice. I actively tried to improve on the fight scene given the criticism I got with the fight in Rolante. I think it came out well though. Still, I feel awful for doing this to Hawk, I really do.

Please review! I needs more of them! People who review get free invisible intangible gummy bears.


	27. Revelations

Revelations

Kevin despised walking through the desert. If he could choose a place on Fa'diel that he'd never want to see again it would be Navarre and the Desert of Scorching Heat. Why couldn't that have just been a hyperbolic name, as humans were wont to give? The Golden Road had been nothing but a road occasionally dotted with yellow bricks.

Unfortunately the desert truly earned its name. And whilst it was cooler than the last time he had visited, Kevin found himself sweating like a pig and struggling to remain hydrated. On top of that the sand got in absolutely everything and given he was wearing his Demon Neckband at the moment that meant a lot of chafing around his neck.

Blast but did Kevin ever hate the desert.

Unfortunately with Hawk gone the party were entirely relying on him to guide them through this mess. Lise provided valuable advice when dealing with the desert; she was the most familiar with it, having attacked the Sand Fortress itself on their first adventure. But she didn't have the same experience Kevin did dealing with ambushes. Being from Rolante as she was, the mountain lent itself to the amazons and they knew almost every decent hiding spot there. Even knowing the Moonlight Forest as well as he did meant very little practically because every tree and every bush could hide an unpleasant surprise. That meant the Beastmen practiced, constantly, knowing that every shadow, every unheard rustle, could be their last.

It was a hard life for a Beastman, even the Beast King himself had to muck in once in a while to prove his tenacity. But it was the life that bred a people who were feared the world over and it was not something Kevin would give up. With the distinct lack of mana stones to class change, such training became even more vital as Beastmen couldn't simply rely on the fact that they were a Death Hand to save them from the bite of a snake.

Still, that hard life is what kept him alive today. What had kept him alive when he'd fought Jorin. He'd been outclassed then, the old general had beaten him to within an inch of his life and yet it was the years of training, the years of being Beast King that had allowed him to hold on. Kevin still felt confused, betrayed by his old friend. He had a right to feel betrayed in truth. How had Jorin helped him so much for so long, only to be a traitor?

If what Jorin had done to him had been a betrayal then what he'd done to Lugar. Kevin shuddered. That was simply sick. He'd found the pup, furless, skin stained by dry blood hiding in the corner of his tiny cell. Refusing to leave, refusing to even move until Kevin was there. Even then it had been a struggle to convince him that Jorin was gone, that he'd never hurt the pup again. Kevin didn't think Lugar would ever truly be himself again. He didn't think the pup would ever leave his rooms again.

Kevin had had to leave the pup there. Leave him with people that Kevin knew he was meant to trust. But with Jorin's betrayal fresh in his mind Kevin couldn't bring himself to do that. Every day he felt hollowness, knowing that Lugar wouldn't feel safe until Kevin returned home.

That hollowness ate at Kevin, it had been the same hollowness he'd felt when Carlie had died. He still had nightmares about her; he always had nightmares about her. Sometimes he swore he felt the impact as the Dark Lich used his final blast on her; the look of shock on her face, the look as she screamed his name, screamed for him to help her.

His friends helped, when he was with them, watching them talk he kept these thoughts at bay. But it was moments like these, where everything was quiet that they crept back; the hollowness chipping away at his spirit; the guilt that riddled his soul.

People told him that it wasn't his fault, his friends particularly; Hawk had always seemed to understand what was getting at him. But it didn't help. He knew deep down that he should have set a better guard in the Moonlight Forest and he knew that he shouldn't have assumed that the Dark Lich had been killed.

That had brought him the previous night, where he'd been forced to watch helpless as Angela lay dying on the floor in front of him. He'd known she was late, he'd known that was unlike her, but he had been stupid enough to think nothing of it and had almost lost a dear friend to it; Duran's miraculous power being the only thing keeping her from joining Carlie. It galled Kevin that he'd been so sloppy again. The mission itself was probably one of the causes. Even though they'd been on ships, been in inns, they'd never truly had any respite. Their enemy had proved audacious enough to attack them anywhere and everywhere. It was tiring; constantly looking over your shoulder. Kevin considered himself a veteran and a tough man yet he felt on edge all the time.

It was worse because ultimately the group looked to him for leadership. They were all powerful of course, some more cunning, others more versatile but he was the one the Goddess had chosen all those years before and that seemed to give him weight. Everyone knew deep down; or at least Kevin thought they did, that he was probably the most powerful of them. He'd been the last one standing in their confrontation with the three evils, he was the one who'd dealt the killing blow. So even unconsciously they looked to him for strength, perhaps feeling that if Kevin was still standing they always had a chance.

But that was beginning to change as well. In a world without mana he was far and away the strongest of them, a Death Hand, focused on pure physical dominance, but Duran's new power was nothing short of phenomenal. The man could heal people from the brink of death so that they were good as new; he'd never had that kind of power before. His new attack, the Chaos Sabre, was unlike anything Kevin had ever seen, ignoring armour like it was nothing.

It hadn't worried Kevin initially, even after the Paladin managed to slice Jagan's head off in a single blow. The Beastman supposed that should probably have set off the first alarm bell; Jagan was a powerful foe, empowered by the Underworld itself it simply shouldn't have been possible to take him down so easily. Kevin had struggled to lay a hand on the vampire in that fight and by his account of Bucca so had Hawk.

But it hadn't, Kevin had just been happy that his friend was becoming more powerful in his own right, elated at the fact that they still had at least one weapon on their side. Yet the changes in the Paladin's demeanour had become plainly evident after the attack on Angela. Kevin sensed the quiet Paladin actually cared for the Archmage, beyond just as friends, but even that shouldn't have sent him into the rage that they had witnessed.

A Duran beating the life out of a defenceless man no matter how evil simply wasn't Duran. That was what concerned Kevin. He could trust Duran, the reliable Paladin, King for Forcena and Mana Knight with the power of the Chaos sabre. But how far could he trust this man? And should a conflict come about, could the Death Hand actually stop him?

In the end, it was simple. How could the others look to him as a leader if he wasn't the strongest, if he wasn't the best. And if they couldn't look to him, would they turn to an ever more aberrant Duran?

So Kevin ploughed on and despite being increasingly irritated by the heat of the desert, by the sand and by everything else. He kept emotion from his face and remained as calm as possible.

"Lise, how far do we have left?" he asked as the Star Lancer trotted back to his side.

"The Fortress should be in sight pretty soon, I recognised this outcrop from when I last visited, there's a path just to the South of here, the ninjas managed to block it off once, but I doubt they'll have done that this time considering Hawk and I found a way around pretty quickly."

"Good, do you have any idea what we can expect when we get there?" she was, after all the most familiar with the thieves guild.

"Your guess is as good as mine. The ninjas were good at springing surprise attacks last time. Even with Hawk they managed to catch us off guard too often for comfort." Lise frowned.

"You're sure Hawk didn't give you any hints?" the Beast King inquired. He could sense the Amazon's worry. The girl was scared to death for Hawk. But then she'd be scared to death for any of them. Lise was like that, she put her heart into everything; it never got in the way; she was strong because of it.

"No," the Amazon leaned on her spear slightly, glancing down at the sand; "Hawk and I haven't had much time to chat since Rolante. He'd have no reason to tell me anything more than any of you guys." Kevin himself frowned; the Star Lancer was more worried than he'd given her credit for.

"Lise, Hawk is alive and we will find hi-.." Kevin's words trailed off as something came into view on the horizon. Navarre was burning.

* * *

Hawk awoke to a painful ache in his shoulders. He kept his eyes fixed shut however. He needed to get his bearings first, before people realised he was awake. Clearly he wasn't dead, that or being with the Goddess involved a lot more pain than he would have expected. Hawk fought the urge to look around. It was likely that he was under guard. He couldn't give away that he'd woken until he was good and ready.

His hands were bound above his head; he was hanging from a ceiling as far as he could tell. His fingers had been meticulously bound together. The people who'd captured him knew what he was capable of clearly. His feet were bound below him, however, the attention they'd given his toes was somewhat less than that of his fingers. He could use that. Carefully, ever so carefully he tried to bring his legs up; and was stopped after about two centimetres of movement. His feet were not only bound together, but apparently bound to the floor as well.

Potentially he could escape this. Split-image slice was a strange technique like that. When he used it, the images he created didn't have a tangible form, yet somehow, they didn't magically fall through the floor. With that, he might be able to get free of his bonds. But it was very likely that his opponents had already accounted for this. If so, his escape would likely land him in much worse circumstances than right now. No, right now his most powerful weapon was his voice. He'd plan an escape later when the opportunity arose.

Still keeping his eyes firmly shut, Hawk thought back to Navarre. Kairen had stabbed him, clearly she had been the inside man, like Jorin and Dorothy and Samantha before her. He should have known, or suspected at least. Killing Jessica, that had unsettled him too much to think, he'd let it get to him and now he'd failed her twice over; once by killing her and again by allowing her death to be in vain. He should have been more collected, he should have known it was her, he should have tried to capture instead of kill.

Kairen had stabbed him and he'd been arrogant enough to think she loved him. How could he have been so blind? And yet, she'd waited. She'd had plenty of opportunity to take him down while he'd been crying onto her shoulder. Why wait until the kiss?

That was a mystery to Hawk and he suspected it would remain so. The motives of this higher power and its henchmen were completely alien to the Nightblade. He suspected he'd never find out Kairen's real motives. What he did however know was that if he'd been captured he was at least of some worth to his captor alive. He could use that as long as he kept his head; kept his thoughts away from seeing Jessica lie there lifeless, her dead eyes staring at him, accusing him. Goddess, he had to stay focused.

Slowly, Hawk opened his eyes. Seeing wasn't a difficulty, the room around his was fairly well lit; odd for a dungeon, yes, but these guys knew what he was capable of, you never wanted to take any chances with shadows around a ninja. Except, Hawk was sure he recognised the interior; almost certain in fact. He just couldn't place it in his mind. There was something so familiar not just about the way it looked, but the way it felt.

Unfortunately it was at that point that the guards who apparently had been watching for any signs of consciousness noticed that he was awake.

"He's awake, inform Lady Kairen imme-"

"I'm already here guardsman," Hawk looked up. The woman who walked in was Kairen. But this was a different Kairen, somehow more confident, more at ease and Goddess help him, even more beautiful. In the desert she had worn modest blouses and dresses; she was radiant enough that what she'd worn hardly mattered. Even in the prison cell, caked with dirt she'd still been beautiful. But now; where there had once been a loose blouse Kairen now wore combat leathers, if they could even be described as such.

The 'armour' looked more like a bikini than anything else, with a skirt barely extending past her knees. The protection such armour would offer was laughable, her midriff was clearly exposed. Simply put, that meant the thing was very well enchanted, to the point that the actual coverage it offered was worthless. Sheathed at her sides were the two daggers. Hawk was familiar with them, though he'd seen them used rarely. As long as Hawk's own, they were better balanced for throwing, but sacrificed some blade weight for it.

In short, however, all this added up to a sight that made the nightblade's throat dry and somehow this angel was the one who'd betrayed him.

"Leave us at once; inform the Emperor that Hawk is awake, he will be anxious to meet him."

"Are you sure that's wise my Lady?" The guard questioned, concern heavy in his tone.

"Do you honestly think that if Hawk had wanted to escape he wouldn't have already? Inform the Emperor now!"

Hawk had been on the receiving end of that voice a few times and it resulted in the guard scurrying away stammering apologies. Hawk couldn't blame the man, few people could stand up to Kairen when she wanted something done. Idly Hawk wondered what would happen if she ever met Angela.

The Rogue remained silent until the guard was clear of the room, before leaning up and giving him a soft kiss.

She stood back and stared at him, silent.

Hawk didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to kill her and yet another wanted to have her right there and then. However, one part of him simply wanted to know the answer to one important question, "Why?"

"Trust me Hawk."

"Lady Kairen, I trust the prisoner hasn't given you trouble?" a voice came from the doorway ahead of Hawk. Every syllable was enunciated, the voice spoke of strength, confidence. It belonged to a man, taller than Hawk, statuesque. His red gold hair was short, trimmed fair enough away so as not to cover his ears and his face belonged to a man who appeared no older than Hawk himself. It was difficult to say the man's features were soft; his expression, a confident smirk prevented that, yet Hawk could see a similarity in his face and Kairen's. Right down to the emerald green eyes, but where Kairen's eyes were warm, this man's held a cold, emotionless stare.

The man strode across the room regally, apparently unhindered by the inch thick dark armour he had chosen to wear. That seemed excessive to Hawk, especially in his own fortress. Perhaps the armour, perfectly black to the point that the individual parts were indistinguishable from one another was there to impress Hawk. He needn't have tried. Hawk already knew his foes were formidable and afforded them as much respect as they deserved.

He stopped next to Kairen, affording her a smile, "He woke up less than a minute ago and even Hawk would be hard pressed to give me trouble in that time."

"Yes, I suppose that would be a rather pressing challenge. I'm sure you'll want more time with him after I'm done, but for now sister could you deal with the current battle reports?" That caught Hawk's attention; his eyes darted to Kairen, who simply returned his gaze with a mysterious one of her own. She was this man's sister?

Kairen curtsied, as impractical as it was in her current clothing, "I live to serve my Emperor," before taking her leave, her swaying walk daring Hawk to look away.

As she left, the man, the emperor, gave him a look up and down. "I must say it is a pleasure to finally see you awake. Unfortunately mana warriors aren't as impressive unconscious."

"Who are you?" was all Hawk could respond with. The man that had forced him to murder Jessica stood in front of him and he was acting as if they were friends?

"Oh who I am isn't important right now Hawk. Not to you, no, a more pertinent question given your position might be, 'what are you going to do to me?'" He paused, "I suppose, 'what do you want from me?' might be acceptable as well."

Hawk grinned in spite of himself, the pretty man was confident that was for sure. He could take advantage of that, but now wasn't the time, "Well, far be it from me to decline such good advice. Why am I here? Y'know, instead of rotting on a floor in Navarre somewhere?"

"Simplicity itself Hawk, I need you to perform a task for me and unfortunately you would be unable to do it while dead."

"Just what kind of task?" Hawk replied smoothly.

"Ah, now whilst that is a good question, I in fact cannot answer it just yet. You will find out soon enough. Now as for the question of the immediate future, well very simply I am going to keep you right where you are. Perhaps I might move you so that you hang from the wall of my throne room," the man paused, rubbing his chin, looking at Hawk appraisingly. "No. As amusing as such a display might be it would be a waste of resources; resources that we can ill afford to misuse."

The Emperor began pacing in front of Hawk, "You aren't aware of the full scale of our little operation yet. I'm not even sure you truly understand what our true objective is." He took a pause from his pacing, glancing at the Nightblade, "You five, arrogant enough to think that this was simply about your Kingdoms. They were only the beginning." Taking a pace towards the Nightblade the red-gold haired man smiled, "You might be wondering Hawk why I'm telling you anything at all. Perhaps someone more cautious might have kept you in a dark cell, bound with a blindfold over your face, but let me assure you, whilst I might not be the most cautious man, I am certainly not stupid."

"So why then?" this was the mastermind? A man more concerned with pompous speeches than interrogating a prisoner? This was the man who had managed to cripple the five most powerful warriors on the planet?

As he spoke the Emperor's expression warped. He had seemed a calm man before but as he elaborated, with every word his appearance changed, from monarch in perfect control to madman. To some people, in fact most, he'd still seem in control. But his eyes, they gave his true insanity away. "Hawk I tell you this because I have already won. Yes, it was inconvenient to lose at Altena, Rolante and the Beast Kingdom, that mistake was simply because I underestimated the five of you."

"I had assumed that your friendship would have taken second place to the responsibilities you carried. I assumed that each of you would return home alone and alas because of that misguided faith three powerful allies of mine are now gone." The man grimaced, "Jorin's death was particularly unexpected I am still unsure as to how Kevin managed to kill him. But ultimately whilst victories there would have been helpful yes, they were not integral to the plan."

The Emperor had not removed his gaze from Hawk but as he did, turning away from the Nightblade, what Hawk could only describe as a rift opened behind him. "You see Hawk, those actions were merely the prelude to what happens now. My masterstroke lands now."

There were probably a million more helpful questions that Hawk could have asked. But as the madman had described his plan, Hawk could find only one which he truly cared about the answer to, "Why Jessica?" Hawk shouted. "Why was she there?" He struggled against his bonds. If Navarre had been worth nothing why bother defending it at all. If Kairen was going to stab him anyway, why bother having Jessica guarding her? Hell, how had Jessica become so powerful, she hadn't even class changed before the war of mana had started?

The Emperor paused mid-step, "Oh Hawk, that's simple," he replied looking back at the thief. "You killed my mother."

The Emperor stepped through the portal.

* * *

Angela threw up. It wasn't the most regal thing she had ever done, but there was no being regal here. The stench of charred corpses plagued her nostrils, the sight of blood, limbs scattered across the ground tainted her eyes, shadows dancing as flames burnt around them.

Navarre was gone, nobody had been spared. Every so often Angela would see the corpses of families, huddled together, parents dead in front of their children. Goddess, the children. Their fates had been worse than their parents, forced to watch their parents die before being ripped apart themselves.

The attackers had come from within the fortress; the families had been trying to flee their homes. Angela shivered, was Hawk among the dead? He wouldn't have let this happen. He had to be dead; he would have found them by now otherwise.

She felt lightheaded, no, Hawk wasn't dead. Somehow Angela felt she would know if the Nightblade died. He couldn't be dead; he was too fast to be dead. Hell she still needed to slap the bastard in the face! She wasn't stupid; the moment Lise had told them about Hawk she knew that blasted Nightblade had spent the night with the Amazon. Simply put, she was not about to give up on a man whose balls she needed to crush.

Strengthened by her newfound fury Angela turned from the unscathed barrel she had found to look at her friends. The men had taken the scene with slightly more dignity that herself, but still looked disgusted. Lise, she was crying. The Amazon had always enjoyed visiting Navarre; she'd had friends here beyond Hawk. Now she began to make her way to Angela, trying to blink away her tears.

The barrel behind Angela tumbled with a thud, the queen swivelled quickly to face it. She hadn't touched it; that was odd.

Perhaps it was her previous encounter with the ninjas that clued her on, perhaps it was the barrel and the sight of Navarre making her feel suspicious or perhaps it was the flicker of a shadow the she caught in the corner of her eye, but Angela's instincts took over, she threw herself into a dive, gasping in pain as a pair of daggers cut shallow slashes into her back. Rolling, the Archmage came to her feet staff raised and eyes on her target.

The shadows themselves swirled around the ninja, creeping up his boot, the darkness licking at his ankles. That would have been intimidating once, but she knew a ninja master when she saw one. In fact she was relieved that she wasn't fighting a Nightblade. A Nightblade could have beaten her down in a few seconds, but ninja masters, they relied on their jutsus. In the time it took him to cast one she'd have blasted him with enough fireballs to take down the entire Moonlight Forest.

Her assailant took time to measure her up however, knowing she couldn't cast a spell without him interrupting it. The Queen gave a quick glance around. Kevin and Duran were already locked in combat with their attackers. Each of them had a pair of Ninja Masters to contend with. Lise however, had only been assigned one ninja. That was the mistake. People, even Lise herself underestimated quite how powerful the Star Lancer was in combat. There was a chance, if Angela could direct the fight, she had a chance.

The Archmage didn't have time to finish the thought. The shadows that had been innocently swirling at his feet enveloped her opponent. Angela acted quickly, firing an underpowered Holy Ball into the air directly above her, the light radiating from it overpowering the sun's rays.

The Ninja Master reappeared, slashing with his daggers, only to land and look relatively confused as to where his target was. Angela smiled, pacing backwards quickly, yet cautiously. The problem with a Shadow Dive was that if there were no shadows around the target, they you couldn't very well dive out of them. Angela kept creating distance between the two of them. The ninja would think it for a spell, but she was simply trying to get to Lise, who seemingly had figured out the scheme herself.

Determined not to let her cast anything however, the ninja pressed his advantage and what he probably thought was his good luck, dashing towards Angela daggers raised. Angela raised her staff to defend high, but was caught off guard when instead of slashing downward the ninja stopped in front of her, switched grip and tried to slash at her side.

Barely Angela got the end of her staff in the way, swinging it from the horizontal position in front of her head to a vertical one covering her left flank. Knowing a strike would come from the other side, Angela used her staff as a support, delivering a fierce thrust kick to the ninja's sternum. Caught in his own swing and with his dagger having a greater distance to travel, he couldn't avoid the blow, instead opting to use the kick's momentum to deliver himself into a backwards roll. Blasted ninjas, every time you thought you might slow them down they just found new and creative ways to render your blows pointless.

Shifting backwards again however and Angela found her back pressing against Lise's. A few accidental jabs to her ribs indicated that the Amazon's ninja was somewhat less cooperative than her own. Fortunately they were well versed in working together. Back in the war of mana Lise had protected Angela. It made a lot of sense given the absolute havoc that the men could cause given enough space and the more supportive nature of Lise's powers. She just hoped that seven years and an entire journey where protecting Angela hadn't exactly been a priority hadn't dulled their cohesion any.

Angela's ninja burst forward, furious that the Queen had managed to get the better of him. She just had time to scream, "Lise!" before diving to her hands and knees. As she fell and as smoothly as if they'd performed the move less than seven years ago, Lise lifted herself off the ground using Angela as a support to roll over. Angela turned to face Lise's admirer, whose daggers were now flying through unoccupied air. Angela strained, under the sudden pressure of Lise's weight and the need to concentrate without being able to maintain any sort of casting form. Two fireballs materialised, underpowered, but accurate. They smashed into the ninja's chest, blasting him back.

A quickly glance back to her right showed a ninja with a spear sticking out of his chest. Damn but Lise had gotten accurate with that thing.

She was on her feet quickly, they were far from done. "There enough mana?" was all Lise asked. They'd done this trick so many times before.

"Yes," Angela replied and immediately found Lise's hand squeezing her shoulder.

"Mind up!" shouted the Amazon, not bothering to extend the effect to their friends.

Angela smiled, that spell always felt invigorating. She felt more alive like this, more in tune with what she truly was. And the mana, it was still thick here, in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time. She drew it in, drew it all in. It was exhilarating; she wanted to scream for joy. Instead however she concentrated all of her power into a single spell.

"SAINT BEAM!" she shouted, her voice carrying almost enhanced by the power she wielded. From her raised staff a single beam of blinding light shot into the air. The sky itself responded, six pillars of light streaked from the sky; six feet in diameter they struck the ground silently.

The effect was instant, one moment there had been silence, the next there were the pained screams of six dying ninjas. Screaming has holy light burnt them, cleansing them from the earth. Screams as their silhouettes inside the pillars simply disappeared, broken apart.

Angela lowered her staff. A smile came over her face.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," said Duran as crossed the distance to Angela. "You would think I'd be used to that, but no, still jaw dropping."

"Please, you've seen me do a lot worse," replied Angela. She was fairly confident she could have pushed the power on that Saint Beam further, but it was senseless to waste so much mana.

"Don't remind me."

"As impressive as that was Angela, I was hoping you'd leave one alive," Kevin had finally reached their position. The Beastman hadn't even been cut. He'd fought two ninja masters at the same time and they hadn't been able to land a single hit. Duran thought her magic was scary, but when you realised just how powerful a Death Hand was, well that was terrifying. "Unfortunately, there's nobody alive here to tell us anything. We don't know where Hawk is or if he's even-"

"He's alive Kevin," Lise interrupted, her voice taking a monotone not characteristic of the Star Lancer, "Hawk is alive and we don't say otherwise until we know."

Kevin looked surprised at the interruption, but he was unperturbed, "Fine, Hawk's still alive. Regardless however, we don't know where he is. We also have nobody to interrogate about where he might be. We've reached a dead end."

Angela frowned, so Kevin had caught on to their little problem, "I don't think that's entirely true Kevin," she replied, free hand dusting sand off her dress, "We may not have any leads from here, but we know at least something about their plan now."

"Exactly what do we know?" asked Duran, his head cocked quizzically. The Paladin, for all his virtues had never really been the smartest one of the group.

"Well the plan has something to do with taking out nations with active armies; clearly the person behind this all wants to summon an army to do his bidding."

Kevin nodded, "That explains the attacks. I suppose Forcena has been taken out as well since we destroyed the bridge in the cleft."

"Exactly, but further, we've been sent off on a journey that's taken us around the world. That's given them prep time. But that's where I get stuck."

"Angela," Lise asked, her words almost a whisper, "If we've been sent around the world then surely the places we haven't visited are what we should be looking at?"

The Amazon had a point. It was actually a very good point. Angela felt embarrassed that she hadn't thought of it herself. But there was a nuance there that they were missing. It would be easy to prepare in the Glass Desert if the villain had wanted to, easy to prepare in the Mirage palace if they'd wanted to. Those didn't need to be protected. They had been directed away from somewhere.

Then it hit her.

"Oh Light no."

Writer's Rant

Response to reviewers:

Bah not posting in two years meant I bled reviewers. Please do review guys it's really appreciated.

HawkofNavarre: I really liked the last chapter. Hawk's journey through Navarre was really really fun to write. Here's the sad part. I actually really like Jessica as a character. I read it back and feel bad. Needless to say though, her power change will be explained.

Actual rant:

I've always had a problem with games and stories introducing the big bad guy too near the end. How am I meant to hate the Dragon Emperor when he doesn't really do anything bad to me? So throughout this story I've been talking about a higher power. Constantly referring to it existing. And now we meet him. Let's hope I can make him a cool villain who you love to hate.

Aside from that, I always always enjoy writing Angela sections and Kevin actually was really cool to write as well. I like getting in his head. It's also fun to see how his thoughts change based on the circumstances he's in.

Anyway. I hope you guys enjoyed it, please do review they're REALLY appreciated. I want to know if my writing's improved since chapter 22.

Free invisible intangible gummy bears for all those that review!


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